LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


16G13 


385Wash'nSt.Boston 


TRAPPING   WILD  ANIMALS 
IN   MALAY  JUNGLES 


-.?•&-  m 

V    L        ......Vi-     . 


^       " 


, 

--''         v   V 


• 
* 


''The  native  screamed  and  the  snake  constricted  suddenly. 
breaking  nearly  every  bone  in  the  man's  body  and  crushing  the 
life  out  of  him." 


TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 
IN  MALAY  JUNGLES 


BY 
CHARLES    MAYER 


NEW  YORK 

DUFFIELD  AND  COMPANY 

1921 


Copyright,  1920,  by 
ASIA  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

Copyright,   1921,  by 
DUFFIELD  AND  COMPANY 


Printed  in  U.  S.  A. 


To 
MY  SISTER  DORA 


CONTENTS 


Page 

I.  CIRCUS  DAYS       3 

II.  JUNGLE  STRATAGEMS 36 

III.  ELEPHANTS 57 

IV.  SHIPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 91 

V.  THE  SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK 121 

VI.  "KILLING  A  MAN-EATER" 158 

VII.  UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE 177 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


"The  native  screamed  and  the  snake  constricted  suddenly, 
breaking  nearly  every  bone  in  the  man's  body  and  crushing 
the  life  out  of  him." Frontispiece 

"I  looked  up  just  as  a  black  leopard  sprang  at  us.  All's  spear 
whizzed  by  my  head,  hitting  the  animal  in  the  side.  I  fired, 
catching  him  in  mid-air  squarely  in  the  chest  with  an  ex- 
plosive bullet." Facing  Page  36 

"Since  the  monkey  cannot  pull  his  hand  out  of  the  bottle  while 
it  is  doubled  up  and  he  hasn't  sense  enough  to  let  go,  he 
sticks  there  until  the  hunter  comes  along."  .  Facing  Page  46 

"I  climbed  to  the  platform  and  looked  down  into  the  trap. 
There  were  sixty  elephants."  ....  Facing  Page  68 

"I  felt  myself  spinning  so  rapidly  that  the  elephant,  my  men 
and  the  stall  were  all  a  blur;  and  I  came  up  against  the 
wall  with  a  thud.  Fortunately,  there  was  a  gutter  running 
along  the  wall,  and  I  dropped  into  it  just  as  the  elephant 
lunged  forward  at  me." Facing  Page  88 

"We  began  to  prod  the  rhinoceros He  put  his  head 

against   the  wall   and  rooted;   the  wall   toppled  over  and 

he  lurched  out  of  the  pit  and  into  the  cage."    Facing  Page  116 

"A  huge  paw  shot  out  and  grabbed  my  ankle.  I  was  jerked  off 
the  ground,  and,  as  I  fell,  my  hands  caught  the  limb  of  a 

tree The   brute   pulled.    I    felt   myself   growing 

dizzy Then  Omar  grabbed  a  club  and  pounded  the 

Orang's  arm." Facing  Page  142 

"Then  three  of  us  armed  with  krises  took  positions  so  that  we 
should  be  above  the  seladang  when  he  charged,  and  we 
lowered  the  sack.  He  snorted  and  drew  back." 

Facing  Page  204 


TRAPPING   WILD    ANIMALS 
IN    MALAY   JUNGLES 


Trapping  Wild  Animals 
in  Malay  Jungles 


I"  T  was  the  lure  of  the  circus — the  tug  that  every 
boy  feels  when  a  show  comes  to  town — that 
started  me  on  my  career  as  a  collector  of  wild 
animals.  I  use  the  word  collector  rather  than 
hunter,  because  hunting  gives  the  idea  of  killing 
and,  in  my  business,  a  dead  animal  is  no  animal  at 
all.  In  fact,  the  mere  hunting  of  the  animals  was 
simply  the  beginning  of  my  work,  and  the  task  of 
capturing  them  uninjured  was  far  more  thrilling 
than  standing  at  a  distance  and  pulling  a  trigger. 
And  then,  when  animals  were  safely  in  the  net  or 
stockade,  came  the  job  of  taking  them  back  through 
the  jungle  to  the  port  where  they  could  be  sold. 
It  was  often  a  case  of  continuous  performance  until 
I  stood  on  the  dock  and  saw  the  boats  steam  away 
with  the  cages  aboard.  And  I  wasn't  too  sure  of 
the  success  of  my  expedition  even  then,  because  the 
animals  I  had  yanked  from  the  jungle  might  die 
before  they  reached  their  destination. 

I  was  nearly  seventeen  when  Sells  Brothers'  Cir- 
cus came  to  Binghamton,  New  York,  where  I  was 

3 


4  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

living  with  my  parents.  That  day  I  joined  some 
other  boys  in  playing  hookey  from  school,  and  we 
earned  our  passes  by  carrying  water  for  the  ani- 
mals.^  It  wasn't  my  first  circus,  but  it  was  the  first 
time  that  I  had  ever  worked  around  the  animals 
and  I  was  fascinated.  I  didn't  miss  the  big  show, 
but  all  the  rest  of  the  day  I  was  in  the  menagerie, 
listening  to  the  yarns  of  the  keepers  and  doing  as 
much  of  their  work  as  they  would  allow.  That 
night,  when  the  circus  left  town,  I  stowed  away 
in  a  wagon. 

The  next  morning,  in  Elmira,  I  showed  up  at 
the  menagerie  bright  and  early.  The  men  laughed 
when  they  saw  me.  I  had  expected  them  to  be 
surprised  and  I  was  afraid  that  they  might  send 
me  away,  but  I  found  out  later  that  it  was  quite 
an  ordinary  thing  for  boys  to  run  away  from  home 
and  join  the  circus.  And  the  men  didn't  mind  be- 
cause the  boys  were  always  glad  to  do  their  work 
for  them.  I  worked  hard  and,  in  return,  the  men 
saw  that  I  had  something  to  eat.  That  night  I 
stowed  away  again  in  the  wagon. 

In  Buffalo  I  was  told  to  see  the  boss — the  head 
property-man — and  I  went,  trembling  for  fear  he 
was  going  to  send  me  back  home.  Instead,  he  told 
me  that  I  might  have  the  job  of  property-boy,  which 
would  give  me  $25  a  month,  my  meals  and  a  place 
to  sleep — if  I  could  find  one.  There  were  no  sleep- 
ing accommodations  for  the  canvas  and  property 
crews ;  we  rolled  up  in  the  most  comfortable  places 


CIRCUS  DAYS  5 

we  could  find,  and  we  were  always  so  dead  tired 
that  we  didn't  care  much  where  we  slept. 

Since  those  early  days  in  the  circus,  I've  been 
around  the  world  many  times,  and  I've  seen  all  sorts 
of  men,  living  and  working  in  all  sorts  of  condi- 
tions, but  I've  never  found  a  harder  life  than  that 
of  property-boy,  unless,  perhaps,  it's  that  of  a  Malay 
prisoner.  Sometimes  I  wonder  how  I  stood  it  and 
why  I  liked  it.  But  I  did  stand  it  and,  what  is 
more,  I  loved  it  so  much  that  I  persuaded  the  boss 
to  keep  me  on  when  we  went  into  winter  quarters. 

The  moment  we  arrived  at  a  town,  the  head 
canvas-man  rode  to  the  lot  on  which  we  were  to 
show  and  laid  it  out;  that  is,  he  measured  it  and 
decided  on  the  location  of  the  tents.  The  men  with 
him  drove  small  stakes  to  indicate  where  the  tent- 
pegs  were  to  be  placed.  In  the  meantime,  the  prop- 
erty gang  unloaded  the  show.  Then  we  drove  the 
four-foot  stakes  for  the  dressing-tent  into  whatever 
kind  of  ground  the  lot  happened  to  have.  A  man 
can  work  up  a  good  appetite  by  swinging  a  fourteen- 
pound  hammer  for  an  hour  or  so  before  breakfast, 
but  before  we  started  we  had  also  many  other  things 
to  do.  The  dressing-tent  had  to  be  spread  and 
hoisted ;  then  the  properties  were  sorted  and  placed 
in  their  position  for  the  performers  to  get  ready 
for  the  parade.  Meanwhile  the  canvas-gang  was 
getting  the  "big-top"  up.  Then,  when  the  parade 
started,  we  went  to  the  "big-top"  and  arranged  the 
properties  there,  made  the  rings,  adjusted  the  guys, 


6  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

ropes  and  wires  for  the  aerial  acts  and  laid  out  all 
the  paraphernalia  for  the  ground  acts.  While  we 
were  doing  these  things,  the  canvas-men  were 
stringing  the  seats.  Then  we  had  breakfast. 

When  the  parade  returned,  there  were  cages  to 
be  placed  in  the  menagerie  tent  and  the  parade 
properties  to  be  prepared  for  shipping.  By  the  time 
that  work  was  finished,  the  crowds  had  arrived  for 
the  show  and  we  stood  by  to  handle  the  tackle  of 
the  various  acts.  At  night,  after  the  show  had 
started,  we  began  taking  down  the  smaller  tents 
and  stowing  the  properties  just  as  fast  as  they 
came  from  the  "big  top."  Then,  when  the  show 
was  loaded,  we  took  one  last  look  over  the  lot  to 
be  sure  that  nothing  had  been  left  behind. 

No,  we  didn't  care  much  where  we  slept — just 
any  spot  where  we  dropped  was  good  enough. 

My  greatest  interest  was  in  the  animals,  espe- 
cially the  elephants.  In  my  spare  minutes — they 
were  mighty  few  and  far  between — I  talked  with 
the  keepers  and  learned  from  them  many  things 
about  the  care  of  animals.  When  we  went  into 
winter  quarters  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  the  head  animal- 
man  agreed  to  let  me  stay  as  a  keeper. 

The  next  season  I  went  with  the  Adam  Fore- 
paugh  show;  then  with  the  Frank  Robbins  show. 
I  learned  the  circus  business  from  the  ground  up 
and  I  was  rapidly  promoted.  In  1883,  I  joined  R. 
W.  Fryer's  show  as  head  property-man  and  trans- 
portation master.  It  was  a  responsible  position, 


CIRCUS  DAYS  7 

which  required  every  bit  of  the  knowledge  I  had 
gained  in  the  few  preceding  years.  I  had  charge  of 
all  the  circus  property  and  I  was  boss  of  a  large 
crew  of  men.  The  job  kept  me  on  the  jump  day  and 
night.  The  canvas  and  property  crews  were  made 
up  of  the  toughest  characters  I  have  ever  struck 
in  my  life — a  man  had  to  be  tough  in  those  days. 
They  were  hard  to  handle,  but  they  were  good 
workers  and  I  got  along  all  right  with  them. 

They  were  always  just  a  little  bit  tougher  than 
any  local  talent  we  came  up  against  on  the  tour, 
even  though  a  circus  used  to  attract  the  worst  men 
for  miles  around.  At  Albuquerque  one  night,  four 
"bad  men"  came  to  see  the  show.  When  they  came 
up,  Fitzgerald,  who  was  one  of  the  partners,  was 
taking  tickets  at  the  entrance.  He  tried  to  get 
tickets  from  them,  but  they  pulled  out  guns.  One 
of  them  said:  "These  are  our  tickets."  Fitzgerald 
let  them  in  and  passed  the  word  along  to  the  crew. 
The  men  took  seats  and,  when  the  show  started, 
they  let  loose  with  their  guns,  shooting  through  the 
tents  and  letting  a  few  bullets  fly  into  the  ring. 
Sometimes  a  bullet  would  strike  near  a  performer, 
raising  a  puff  of  dust  and  scaring  him  half  to  death. 
The  "bad  men"  were  sitting  with  their  legs  dang- 
ling down  between  the  seats.  Some  of  the  crew 
took  seats  near  them,  just  as  if  they  were  part  of 
the  audience,  and  a  dozen  property-men  sneaked 
under  the  tent.  When  the  signal  was  given,  they 
grabbed  the  dangling  legs  and  pulled.  Then  the 


8  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

circus-men  in  the  seats  jumped  up  and,  without  let- 
ting the  audience  know  what  was  happening,  they 
snatched  the  guns.  Down  went  the  "bad  men'' 
between  the  seats.  It  all  happened  so  quickly  and 
so  quietly  that  the  audience  didn't  realize  what  had 
become  of  them.  The  canvas-men  "toe-staked"  them ; 
that  is,  they  hit  them  over  the  heads  with  the  toe- 
stakes  that  are  driven  into  the  ground  to  keep  the 
seat-stringers  from  sliding.  A  toe-stake  is  of  just 
the  proper  size  and  weight  to  use  in  a  fight,  and  it 
is  the  circus-man's  idea  of  a  good  weapon.  The 
crew  buried  the  four  men  while  the  show  was  on. 
I  thought  there  would  be  trouble  before  we  could 
get  out  of  town,  but  the  men  weren't  even  missed. 

The  Fryer  outfit  had  a  Pennsylvania  Dutchman 
called  Charley.  He  was  one  of  the  strongest  men 
I  have  ever  seen.  One  night,  when  the  stake-wagon, 
drawn  by  eight  horses,  was  stuck  in  the  mire,  he 
lifted  the  rear  end  of  the  wagon  on  his  back  while 
the  horses  pulled  it  out.  I  think  that  if  Charley 
had  got  a  good  swing  at  a  man  and  used  his  full 
strength,  he  could  have  killed  him  with  one  blow. 
One  day,  in  Christchurch,  New  Zealand,  while  Fitz- 
gerald was  taking  tickets,  a  larrikin — a  tough — 
came  along  and  said:  "Ticket? — I'll  spit  in  your 
eye."  Fitzgerald  knocked  him  down  and  called  for 
Charley,  who  was  working  at  the  ticket-wagon. 
Charley  took  the  larrikin  in  his  arms  just  as  easily 
as  if  he  had  been  a  baby,  and  carried  him  out  into 
the  street.  There  he  dropped  him  and  said :  "If  I 


CIRCUS  DAYS  9 

have  to  do  this  again,  I'll  hit  you."  The  larrikin 
didn't  come  back. 

Charley's  work  at  the  ticket-wagon  was  to  keep 
the  crowd  moving.  In  front  of  the  ticket-window 
there  was  always  stretched  down  a  big  sheet  of 
canvas  covered  with  sawdust.  When  a  man  put 
down  his  money  for  a  ticket,  the  fellow  in  the  wagon 
passed  him  out  a  ticket  for  the  cheapest  seat  and 
charged  him  the  highest  price — unless  the  man 
showed  that  he  knew  exactly  what  seat  he  wanted ; 
in  that  case,  the  ticket-seller  shoved  his  change  out 
so  that  one  or  two  coins  slid  off  the  counter  into  the 
sawdust.  If  the  man  tried  to  stop  and  hunt  in  the 
sawdust  for  his  money,  Charley  pushed  him  along 
to  make  room  for  the  others  who  wanted  to  buy 
tickets.  After  the  crowd  had  passed  into  the  tent, 
Charley  and  his  pal  would  take  up  the  canvas  and 
sort  out  the  money  from  the  sawdust. 

I  wasn't  in  on  that  "flam"  system,  but  I  had 
another  way  of  making  money.  As  head  property- 
man,  I  stood  near  the  entrance  to  the  "big-top"  and, 
when  people  weren't  satisfied  with  their  seats,  they 
came  to  me.  I  sold  them  the  privilege  of  taking 
better  seats.  The  sum  acquired  in  this  way  was 
known  as  "cross-over  money"  and  it  was  supposed 
to  be  turned  over  to  the  company.  One  day  one  of 
the  partners  objected  to  this  arrangement.  He 
decided  that  he  would  take  the  "cross-over  money" 
himself  and  have  me  collect  tickets  at  the  main 
entrance.  The  other  partner  in  the  show  would  not 


io  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

agree  to  this  scheme.  "If  Mayer  takes  the  'cross- 
over money',"  he  said,  "we  get  half  of  it,  at  least; 
but,  if  you  take  it,  we  don't  get  any." 

That  settled  the  matter,  and,  considering  times 
and  ways,  I've  always  thought  that  it  was  a  good 
tribute  to  my  honesty.  It  was  a  crude  business  and 
every  man  was  out  for  himself.  To  break  even,  a 
man  had  to  be  just  as  hard  as  the  next  one,  and  to 
come  out  ahead,  he  had  to  be  a  bit  harder.  I  liked 
the  game,  but  I  always  had  the  feeling  that  it  wasn't 
the  thing  I  wanted  most.  I  was  interested  chiefly 
in  the  animals,  but,  as  head  property-man,  I  had 
little  time  to  be  near  them. 

My  desire  to  learn  all  there  was  to  know  about 
animals  was  the  main  reason  why  I  cultivated  the 
acquaintance  and  friendship  of  Gaylord.  He  was 
an  expert  animal-man — probably  the  best  informed 
in  the  business — and  had  been  P.  T.  Barnum's  con- 
fidential agent  for  years.  He  had  traveled  the 
world  over,  time  and  again. 

It  was  Gaylord  who  negotiated  with  the  Siamese 
officials  for  one  of  the  famous  white  elephants  of 
Siam.  Barnum  had  his  heart  set  on  having  one 
of  them  for  his  show  and  he  sent  Gaylord  out  with 
instructions  to  go  the  limit.  The  stumbling-block 
in  the  transaction  was  that  the  Siamese  believe  the 
spirits  of  the  ancestors  of  the  royal  family  are  trans- 
ferred to  the  white  elephants.  The  animals  live  in 
the  royal  palace  and  are  cared  for  with  all  the 
ceremony  given  to  any  members  of  the  reigning 


CIRCUS  DAYS  ii 

family.  Of  course,  Barnum's  plan  was  just  as  un- 
thinkable to  them  as  if  he  had  offered  to  exhibit 
the  king  in  his  side-show.  There  was  a  hot 
exchange  of  cablegrams  between  Barnum  in  New 
York  and  Gaylord  in  Siam.  Finally  Barnum 
offered  the  government  $250,000  for  the  privilege 
of  borrowing  one  of  the  elephants  for  just  one  year. 
He  agreed  to  support  a  retinue  of  priests  and 
attendants  and  to  pay  all  transportation  charges. 
The  government  would  not  even  consider  the  propo- 
sition so  Gaylord  gave  up  in  disgust  and  cabled  that 
the  deal  was  off.  But  Barnum  was  not  discouraged. 
When  Gaylord  returned  to  this  country,  he  found 
that  the  old  man  was  advertising  a  white  elephant 
from  the  royal  palace  of  Siam.  Barnum  had  simply 
used  a  whitewash  brush  on  an  ordinary  elephant, 
with  the  result  that  he  had  a  whiter  elephant  than 
the  Siamese  ever  dreamed  of  seeing.  The  animal 
was  so  covered  with  velvet  robes  and  surrounded  by 
attendants  that  the  audience  could  not  detect  the 
fraud;  the  general  effect  was  good  and  the  trick 
brought  in  a  lot  of  money. 

Gaylord  was  quite  deaf  when  I  knew  him,  and 
so  was  Fryer.  Sometimes  at  rehearsal  in  the  morn- 
ing Fryer  would  come  along  and  say  to  Gaylord: 
"Let's  go  up  on  the  top  seat — I  want  to  tell  you 
something  privately."  Then  they  would  climb  up 
to  the  top  seats  and  exchange  confidences — shout- 
ing at  each  other  so  loud  that  you  could  hear  them 
all  over  the  lot. 


12  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

The  Fryer  show  opened  in  Kansas  City  and  then 
worked  right  out  to  the  coast.  After  a  month  in 
San  Francisco,  we  jumped  to  Hawaii.  We  showed 
a  month  at  Honolulu  and  the  King  rarely  missed 
a  performance.  We  had  a  royal  box  fitted  up  for 
him,  and  he  had  as  good  a  time  as  any  of  the 
youngsters.  From  Honolulu  we  went  to  Auckland, 
New  Zealand,  where  we  found  a  twenty-day  quar- 
antine on  all  animals.  We  managed  to  get  along 
by  giving  performances  in  the  Theatre  Royal — just 
the  acts  that  required  no  animals.  After  that  we 
went  to  Australia  and  showed  at  all  the  large 
towns;  then  we  shipped  to  Java.  Next  we  visited 
the  Malay  Peninsula,  where  later  I  was  to  spend 
many  years  in  collecting  animals. 

During  these  long  voyages,  I  spent  much  of  the 
time  with  Gaylord,  listening  to  his  stories  of  experi- 
ences with  animals.  I  had  many  questions  to  ask 
and  Gaylord,  whose  fund  of  information  was  inex- 
haustible, always  answered  them  and  told  me  more 
besides. 

A  few  days  after  we  arrived  at  Singapore,  he 
said :  "Do  you  want  to  come  with  me  while  I  buy 
some  animals?"  Naturally,  I  jumped  at  the  chance. 
We  went  to  the  house  of  Mahommed  Ariff,  the 
Malay  dealer  who  held  a  monopoly  on  the  animal 
trade.  He  was  squatted  in  the  center  of  his  court- 
yard, surrounded  by  cages  containing  the  animals 
brought  in  from  the  jungle  by  his  native  agents.  He 
was  a  wicked  old  devil  and  a  man  had  only  to  glance 


CIRCUS  DAYS  13 

at  him  to  be  convinced  of  the  fact.  His  forebears, 
Gaylord  told  me  as  we  were  going  to  his  house, 
were  pirates,  and  he  was  the  chief  of  a  clique  of 
Samgings  (the  native  gangsters),  composed  of  na- 
tives who  would  commit  any  crime  he  ordered.  It 
was  by  using  such  methods  that  he  held  his  mon- 
opoly of  the  animal  business;  the  natives  were 
afraid  of  him,  and  no  European  or  native  had 
dared  to  interfere  with  his  trade.  His  head  was 
shaven  and  his  lips  and  chin  were  stained  crimson 
from  chewing  betel-nut.  He  had  little  bullet  eyes, 
set  in  a  fat  face.  My  impression  of  Mahommed 
Ariff  was  that  he  would  be  a  bad  man  to  have  as 
an  enemy,  but  it  naturally  didn't  enter  my  head  that 
he  was  to  become  a  sworn  enemy  of  mine  a  few 
years  later.  He  greeted  us  cordially,  for  he  had 
done  business  many  times  with  Gaylord,  and  we  sat 
down  with  him  to  talk  animals.  His  religion  was 
"to  do  all  Europeans,"  but  he  could  not  help  being 
honest  with  us.  If  any  man  knew  the  value  of 
animals,  it  was  Gaylord,  and  old  Mahommed  Ariff 
was  well  aware  of  the  fact.  That  day  we  bought  a 
tiger,  several  monkeys  and  a  pair  of  leopards. 

Several  times  during  our  stay  in  Singapore,  I 
went  to  see  Mahommed  Ariff.  He  spoke  a  little 
English  and  he  was  usually  willing  to  talk  with  me, 
hoping,  perhaps,  that  we  would  buy  more  animals. 
From  him  I  learned  something  of  the  work  of 
collecting  as  it  was  done  on  the  Malay  Archipelago, 


14 

but  I  had  no  idea,  at  that  time,  of  entering  the 
business. 

The  show  moved  to  Penang ;  thence  to  Bangkok, 
Hongkong  and  Shanghai ;  then  to  Japan.  It  was  in 
Tokyo  that  Gaylord  had  one  of  his  bright  ideas.  He 
organized,  in  conjunction  with  the  circus,  a  Japan- 
ese village,  and,  when  we  worked  back  over  our 
route,  via  Singapore  and  Australia,  we  carried  forty 
Japanese  with  us.  Twelve  of  them  were  performers 
and  the  remainder  were  artisans.  We  had  minia- 
ture Japanese  houses,  in  which  the  artisans  worked 
at  their  trades,  such  as  fan-making,  wood-carving 
and  embroidering.  Also  we  carried  a  big  stock  of 
cheap  Japanese  goods,  which  were  sold  as  the  prod- 
ucts of  our  traveling  factory.  The  Japanese  village 
was  a  great  success  and  brought  a  lot  of  money  into 
the  show. 

In  September,  1886,  we  struck  Buenos  Aires, 
where  the  show  had  to  buck  the  Carlos  Brothers — 
the  big  South  American  outfit — and  bad  weather. 
During  the  long  tour  we  had  overcome  many  obsta- 
cles, but  that  combination  was  too  much.  Fryer, 
Gaylord  and  Fitzgerald  decided  to  disband,  and 
most  of  the  properties  and  animals  were  sold  to  the 
Carlos  Brothers. 

By  hard  work  and  careful  saving,  I  had  man- 
aged to  accumulate  over  $8,000;  so  I  was  happy 
to  head  northward.  I  returned  to  New  York  by 
way  of  London  and  in  December  I  met  Fitzgerald. 
A  short  time  afterward  we  were  in  St.  Louis,  where 


CIRCUS  DAYS  15 

we  bought  the  Walter  L.  Main  show,  which  con- 
sisted of  nothing  more  than  a  tent  and  some  seats. 
We  had  no  animals  but  we  hired  performers  and 
started  out  on  the  road. 

For  one  week  we  had  luck  and  took  in  money; 
then  came  nine  days  of  rain.  The  tent  absorbed 
tons  of  water,  and  we  had  no  way  of  drying  it  and 
preventing  mildew.  It  was  so  heavy  that  the  can- 
vas-man could  scarcely  handle  it. 

At  Springfield  I  went  out  to  the  lot  and  found 
Fitzgerald  there ;  he  just  stood  there,  looking  at  the 
wet  canvas  spread  out  on  the  ground  with  the  rain 
beating  down  on  it.  The  canvas-men  had  given  up 
— the  tent  was  too  heavy  to  hoist.  That  was  the  end 
of  my  only  adventure  as  a  circus-owner. 

The  big  shows  carried  an  extra  tent  to  meet 
emergencies,  but  we  couldn't  have  one,  of  course. 
The  rain  had  beaten  us  to  a  finish.  Even  if  we 
could  have  raised  our  tent,  we  should  have  had 
no  audience,  and  we  weren't  well  enough  supplied 
with  money  to  follow  Bailey's  idea  of  giving  a 
performance  if  there  were  only  two  persons  there  to 
see  it.  Our  "Greatest  Show  in  the  World"  was  sunk 
in  an  Illinois  mud-puddle. 

In  later  years  I  have  stood  sponsor  for  many  of 
the  shows  and  small  circuses  that  visited  Singapore. 
One  I  well  remember  belonged  to  an  old  friend, 
A.  Bert  Wilison  of  Sydney,  Australia,  who  had 
been  with  the  advance  at  the  time  I  was  with  R.  W. 
Fryer's  Circus.  He  came  with  his  show  from  Cal- 


16  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

outta  in  pawn,  that  is  to  say,  he  paid  as  much  as 
he  had  and  the  steamship  company  took  a  lien  on 
his  show  or  chattels,  and  if  the  agent  at  the  port 
of  disembarkment  was  satisfied,  he  could  put  up  his 
tent  and  show,  the  steamship  agent  taking  the  re- 
ceipts with  interest  until  the  freight  and  passage 
money  was  collected.  I  happened  to  be  in  Singa- 
pore at  the  time  and  was  told  a  circus  had  just 
arrived  from  Calcutta — "Bert  Wilison's  African 
Circus  and  Equine  Paradox."  I  was  wondering 
who's  it  could  be,  as  I  had  never  heard  of  my  old 
friend's  rise  to  proprietor  of  a  show. 

I  made  up  my  mind  to  see  him,  if  not  for  busi- 
ness then  as  an  old  showman,  never  dreaming  I 
was  to  meet  an  old  friend.  The  surprise  and  pleas- 
ure was  mutual  at  our  meeting,  after  an  absence 
of  nearly  fourteen  years.  The  last  time  we  were 
together  was  in  Buenos  Ayres.  As  I  was  dressed 
in  an  old  suit  of  khaki,  I  looked  to  him  as  if  I 
were  stranded.  "Well,  Charley,"  he  said,  "I'm 
broke,  too,  but  I'll  manage  to  fix  you  somehow  and 
get  you  out  of  here.  You  come  with  me,  old  boy, 
we'll  share  what's  left  of  the  old  show." 

I  thanked  him  and  said  that  I  was  not  as  badly 
off  as  I  appeared,  but  had  been  in  the  animal  busi- 
ness for  a  number  of  years,  was  settled  and  pretty 
well  known  in  Singapore,  and  if  I  could  be  of 
assistance  to  him,  it  was  his  for  the  asking. 

"Well,  Mayer,  to  tell  the  truth,  I'm  in  hock  with 
the  steamship  people.  I  have  not  enough  to  pay 


CIRCUS  DAYS  17 

for  the  hauling  of  my  stuff  or  feed  for  the  horses, 
let  alone  to  put  my  wife  and  child  at  a  decent  hotel." 

I  assured  him  I  would  see  him  through.  There 
were  tears  in  his  eyes  as  he  grasped  my  hand.  I 
went  with  him  to  the  agent  of  the  British  India 
Company  and  arranged  for  the  payment  of  his 
passage  and  freight,  in  fact  took  care  of  everything 
for  him.  It  made  me  feel  good  to  be  again  in 
touch  with  the  old  show  business;  once  in  it,  one 
never  forgets  its  glamor.  I  arranged  for  the  lot 
and  feed  for  the  horses,  but  the  performers  paid 
their  own  hotel  expenses.  We  had  still  to  look  for 
the  labor,  so  I  hired  coolies,  and  by  night  had  the 
top  up.  At  the  same  time  there  was  a  stranded 
balloonist  whom  I  was  befriending,  an  American 
named  Price,  who  went  broke  in  India.  He  had 
his  balloon,  which  wanted  but  a  little  repairing, 
so  I  made  arrangements  with  Wilison  for  Price 
to  join  the  show  and  give  ascensions  and  parachute 
jumps  for  an  attraction. 

Well,  the  show  opened  and  made  good.  The 
balloon  ascension  was  something  new  and  it  went 
big,  especially  when  the  balloon  was  anchored  and 
would  take  people  up.  Wilison  played  Singapore 
two  weeks,  paid  all  his  debts  and  was  on  his  feet. 
I  advised  him  to  play  Bankok,  and,  if  possible,  get 
a  guarantee  from  Prince  Damvony  to  show  inside 
the  palace,  which  he  did  with  success.  The  only 
thing  that  marred  the  career  of  the  show  was  when 
Price  went  up  in  the  balloon  and  took  a  parachute 


i8  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

jump,  he  drifted  down  into  the  King's  household, 
that  is,  the  women's  pavilion,  and  caused  an  awful 
uproar  among  the  inmates.  He  had  to  do  a  lot 
of  explaining  to  convince  the  officials  that  it  was 
no  fault  of  his,  that  it  was  unavoidable,  as  the  wind 
carried  him  there.  I  leave  my  readers  to  imagine, 
if  they  can,  the  fright  and  feeling  of  the  women 
on  seeing  a  man,  a  European,  dressed  in  tights, 
dropping  amongst  them  from  the  skies.  It  was 
weeks  before  the  scare  wore  off,  and  it  was  spoken 
of  for  years  after.  The  last  I  heard  of  Wilison 
was  in  Japan,  when  he  intended  to  go  from  there 
to  Hawaii  and  then  to  Australia. 

As  the  steamer  having  the  Wilison  show  aboard 
left  the  docks,  the  old  fascination  of  show  life 
seemed  to  grip  me.  It  brought  back  wonderful 
memories  of  the  good  old  days  when  one-ring 
circuses  were  the  real  thing.  I  look  back  on 
those  days  with  regret,  days  when  I  was  the  head 
or  Boss  Property  Man,  for  next  to  the  Proprietor 
the  Boss  Property  Man  was  king  of  the  dressing- 
tents,  and  woe  to  the  performer  who  slighted  him. 
When  the  Show  would  make  its  first  start  on  the 
road,  the  Boss  Property  Man  would  place  the  per- 
formers5 trunks  in  position.  Pay  day,  the  per- 
former who  neglected  to  give  his  fifty  cents  or 
dollar  to  the  Boss  Property  Man,  would  find  his 
trunk  badly  damaged,  broken  open  or  no  trunk  at 
all  on  arrival  at  the  next  town.  It  was  a  custom 
that  few  ventured  to  neglect,  for  otherwise  they 


CIRCUS  DAYS  19 

might  suffer  the  loss  of  their  wardrobe  or  part  of 
it, -and  probably  their  trunk,  and  ran  the  risk  of 
being  fired  by  the  management  for  failure  to  be 
ready  for  their  act. 

One  case  in  particular  I  remember  when  I  was 
with  the  R.  W.  Fryer's  Shows  as  Boss  Property 
Man  and  transportation  master.  While  the  Show 
was  still  in  Sydney,  N.  S.  W.,  and  a  week  before 
ending  our  eight  weeks'  stay,  I  told  one  of  the 
performers,  the  bearer  of  a  brother  act,  that  is  the 
man  that  holds  the  other  man  on  his  shoulders  and 
catches  him  as  he  jumps  or  turns  somersaults,  to 
get  a  new  trunk  as  he  had  an  old  tin-covered  one 
that  had  the  edges  all  worn  and  broken,  and  every 
time  any  of  my  men  handled  it  they  were  sure  to 
have  their  hands  or  clothes  cut  and  torn.  He 
promised  to  get  one  in  Melbourne.  We  played 
Melbourne  eight  weeks  and  went  from  there  to 
Ballarat,  Victoria.  He  still  failed  to  get  a  new 
trunk,  and  when  the  Show  appeared  in  Ballarat, 
his  trunk  was  amongst  the  missing,  dropped  or 
fallen  off  the  train  en  route  during  the  night.  He 
was  fired,  and  a  day  or  so  after  got  notice  from 
the  Government  Railroad  to  come  and  get  some 
of  his  belongings  that  had  been  picked  up  along 
the  line.  He  got  a  new  trunk. 

Another  character  with  the  same  Show  was  the 
Musical  Clown,  named  Shilleto,  a  really  good  fel- 
low, but  seldom  sober.  I  honestly  believe  that  if 
he  were  sober  he  could  not  do  his  act.  He  was  a 


20  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

natural  born  musician.  He  could  play  any  instru- 
ment and  play  it  well. 

On  arriving  at  any  town,  as  a  joke  we  would 
pick  some  one  who  had  a  local  reputation  as  a 
ne'er-do-well  and  explain  to  him  Shilleto's  weak- 
ness, flattery  and  whiskey,  telling  him  to  go  up 
to  Shilleto  and  say,  "I  beg  your  pardon,  but  are 
you  not  Shilleto,  the  great  Musical  Clown,  now 
with  Fryer's  American  Show.  I  have  seen  you  a 
number  of  times  in  different  parts  of  Europe  but 
never  expected  to  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you 
in  Australia.  You  are  the  greatest  I  ever  saw. 
Will  you  allow  me  to  shake  hands  with  you." 
Shilleto  never  had  been  in  Europe,  although  it  was 
his  boast  that  he  had  traveled  all  over  that  continent 
with  shows. 

That  would  settle  it.  Shilleto's  chest  would 
swell  up  and  that  person  was  his  guest  for  days, 
introduced  as  his  friend,  from  Europe,  often  giving 
him  a  title.  Shilleto  never  seemed  to  get  wise 
to  the  fact  that  in  every  town  he  would  meet  with 
some  one  who  had  seen  him  in  Europe  and  with 
the  same  story. 

It  was  on  one  of  the  visits  to  New  York  that 
the  late  J.  A.  Bailey  of  Barnum  and  Bailey,  sent 
me  a  telegram  from  Chicago  to  meet  him  two  days 
later  in  New  York,  and,  after  mutual  greetings, 
asked  me  how  long  it  would  take  me  to  get  to 
India.  I  told  him  I  intended  to  stop  two  weeks  in 
New  York  and  probably  three  or  four  weeks  in 


CIRCUS  DAYS  21 

London.  "Now,  Mayer,"  he  said,  "I  want  you  to 
get  to  India  as  soon  as  possible.  Can  you  start 
tomorrow?"  Tomorrow  being  a  Saturday,  I  told 
him  no,  and  then  asked  why  the  hurry.  What  was 
there  in  India  that  was  wanted.  He  then  told  me 
that  he  had  reliable  information  of  a  huge  elephant, 
one  standing  fourteen  to  fourteen  and  a  half  feet 
high,  in  Bombay.  I  laughed,  saying,  "Mr.  Bailey, 
your  informant  must  be  mistaken,  there  are  no 
elephants  in  Bombay  outside  of  government  ele- 
phants, and  I  am  sure  none  of  them  equal  or  come 
near  that  size."  I  assured  him  that  I  was  fairly 
posted  on  the  size  of  elephants  in  captivity  through- 
out India,  and  reminded  him  of  my  standing  order 
from  him  to  secure  if  possible  any  elephant  of 
twelve  feet  or  over. 

Now  the  elephant  Jumbo  was  an  African  ele- 
phant and  stood  eleven  feet  two  inches,  and  he 
was  thought  to  be  the  tallest  elephant  in  captivity, 
and  when  Mr.  Bailey  told  me  of  an  Asiatic  elephant 
fourteen  to  fourteen  and  a  half  feet  in  height,  I 
could  not  help  smiling.  "Mr.  Bailey,"  I  said,  "why 
not  cable  to  the  American  Consul  at  Bombay  and 
have  him  secure  it  for  you  while  your  representa- 
tive is  on  his  way."  No,  he  wanted  me  to  start  at 
once,  as  he  said  the  Ringling  Brothers  and  several 
others  had  heard  of  it  and  were  sending  men  out, 
so  he  wanted  me  to  beat  them  to  it  if  possible. 
Money  was  no  object  as  long  as  I  was  able  to 
secure  it,  and  as  he  was  absolutely  in  earnest,  I 


22  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

told  him  I  could  start  the  following  Wednesday, 
July  third.  He  asked  me  to  see  what  connections 
I  could  make,  to  secure  my  passage  for  the  following 
Wednesday  and  find  out  the  shortest  possible  time  I 
could  make  Bombay. 

Can  my  readers  form  an  idea  what  an  Asiatic 
elephant  fourteen  to  fourteen  and  a  half  feet  high, 
and  probably  weighing  from  seven  to  eight  tons, 
would  mean  to  a  circus  like  the  Barnum  and  Bailey 
Show?  What  a  drawing  power  it  would  be!  It 
would  mean  a  million  or  more.  No  keener  or  more 
wonderful  manager  than  Mr.  Bailey  lived,  but,  like 
many  others,  was  often  misled  by  wonderful  tales 
of  strange  things.  Immense  amounts  of  money 
were  spent  in  searching  for  and  trying  to  secure 
freaks  and  abnormal  animals  that  never  existed 
outside  the  minds  of  the  showmen's  informants. 

As  I  said,  money  was  no  object.  Get  it!  That 
was  all  there  was  to  it.  "Go  get  it!"  sounds  easy, 
eh? 

After  looking  up  the  sailings  from  London  to 
Bombay,  I  saw  that  one  of  the  P.  &  O.  steamers 
leaving  London  on  the  fourth  day  of  July  was  due 
in  Bombay  on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  that  month, 
and  told  Mr.  Bailey  that  if  I  left  New  York  on  the 
third  of  July,  with  luck,  I  would  be  in  Bombay  on 
the  twenty-eighth. 

"Can  you  make  it,  Mayer  ?  By  gosh,  that's  good 
time,  but  how  are  you  going  to  do  it  ?  You  have  got 
to  go  to  London  first." 


CIRCUS  DAYS  23 

I  said  that  was  true.  I  would  leave  New  York 
on  the  third  and  catch  the  steamer  leaving  London 
on  the  fourth  of  July  at  Brindisi,  at  the  tail  end 
of  Italy,  as  it  was  due  there  on  the  fourteenth. 

I  left  New  York  on  the  steamer  New  York  on  the 
third,  arrived  in  London  on  the  tenth,  stayed  two 
days  in  London,  traveled  overland  through  France, 
Switzerland  and  Italy,  and  on  the  evening  of  the 
fourteenth  walked  up  the  gangplank  of  the  P.  &  O. 
boat  and  the  twenty-eighth  day  of  July,  after  tran- 
shipping at  Aden,  stepped  ashore  in  Bombay. 

Well,  there  was  no  such  elephant;  nobody  had 
ever  heard  of  any  that  size,  let  alone  seen  one  near 
it,  either  in  Bombay  or  throughout  India,  and  I 
went  through  India  looking  for  it.  The  largest  I 
ever  saw  belonged  to  the  Maharajah  of  Mysore. 
He  was,  as  nearly  as  I  could  judge,  about  twelve 
feet,  but  a  bad  one  and  old,  always  heavily  chained, 
and  out  of  the  question  for  show  purposes. 

After  I  left  Singapore,  I  had  been  thinking  con- 
stantly of  becoming  a  dealer  in  animals.  The  more 
I  considered  the  idea,  the  more  it  appealed  to  me. 
I  was  becoming  tired  of  circus  life,  especially  since 
my  work  did  not  bring  me  into  contact  with  the 
animals.  On  my  return  to  New  York  I  found  Gay- 
lord  and  told  him  about  my  plans.  He  encouraged 
me  and  introduced  me  to  many  men  I  was  glad  to 
know,  such  as  Donald  Burns,  who  was  a  dealer 
and  had  a  store  in  Roosevelt  Street. 


24  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

At  Donald  Burns's  place  I  talked  my  venture 
over  with  many  showmen.  They  were  all  inter- 
ested and  wished  to  encourage  me,  but  they  were 
frankly  doubtful  of  my  success  because  they  knew 
of  old  Mahommed  Ariff's  monopoly.  Burns  offered 
to  help  me  dispose  of  the  animals,  but  I  was  not 
elated  at  that  prospect,  for  Burns  did  not  attend 
very  strictly  to  business.  It  was  a  well-known  story 
in  the  circus  world  that  he  had  neglected  the  oppor- 
tunity of  handling  the  first  hippopotamus  brought 
to  this  country.  A  sea  captain  had  offered  to  sell 
it  to  him  for  $3,000,  but  Burns  refused  to  take  it — 
he  simply  wasn't  interested.  A  few  days  later  it 
was  sold  to  Barnum  for  $10,000. 

Strangely  enough,  it  was  Burns's  easygoing  way 
of  managing  his  affairs  that  gave  me  my  opportun- 
ity of  going  to  Singapore.  I  had  been  in  New  York, 
making  my  plans  and  saving  my  money,  but  I  didn't 
feel  that  I  had  enough  to  start  out  on  the  venture. 
One  day  I  was  in  Burns's  store  when  he  was  away, 
and  a  sailor  came  in,  hiding  two  monkeys  under 
his  coat.  He  had  smuggled  them  into  the  country 
and  wanted  to  sell  them.  The  monkeys  were  black 
with  coal-dust,  but  one  of  them,  I  noticed,  had  pink 
eyes.  That  fact  interested  me  and  I  bargained  for 
them,  buying  the  pair  for  fifteen  dollars.  When 
the  sailor  left,  I  found  a  cake  of  soap  and  gave  them 
a  bath.  The  monkey  with  the  pink  eyes  turned  out 
to  be  pure  white.  Those  were  the  days  when  Jim 
Corbett  was  a  great  favorite,  and  he  had  recently 


CIRCUS  DAYS  25 

become  known  as  "Pompadour  Jim."  My  white 
monkey  had  a  perfect  pompadour  on  his  head.  Soon 
one  of  the  newspapers  printed  a  story  connecting 
Corbett  and  the  monkey.  A  few  days  later  I  sold 
the  monkey  for  $1,500,  and  I  then  had  enough 
money  to  start  for  Singapore. 

It  was  in  April,  1887,  that  I  left  New  York  on 
the  steamer  Glenderrie.  I  outfitted  in  London  while 
we  lay  over  there,  taking  cargo  aboard,  and,  be- 
cause I  was  none  too  sure  what  material  I  should 
need,  I  confined  my  outfit  to  clothes  and  guns.  On 
the  advice  of  several  animal-men,  I  bought  a  Win- 
chester 50-110  express  rifle  that  fired  explosive 
bullets.  The  bullets  contained  a  detonator  and 
enough  dynamite  to  stop  any  animal  in  his  tracks. 
My  revolvers  were  a  Colt  .45  and  a  Smith  and  Wes- 
son .38.  The  passage  took  seven  weeks  and  during 
that  time  I  became  well  acquainted  with  Captain 
Angus,  who  commanded  the  boat. 

When  I  reached  Singapore,  I  began  at  once  to 
learn  the  Malay  language,  which  is  spoken  with 
some  variations  of  dialect  throughout  the  Archi- 
pelago. 

I  called  on  Mahommed  AriiT  every  day  and 
learned  as  much  as  possible  about  the  ways  and 
means  by  which  he  carried  on  his  business.  Even- 
tually I  proposed  to  him  that  he  let  me  act  as  his 
agent  in  interviewing  the  captains  of  some  of  the 
boats  that  called  at  the  port.  He  agreed  to  my 
plan  because  there  were  many  captains  who  would 


26  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

no  longer  do  business  with  him — he  had  cheated 
them  once  too  often — and  he  saw  in  me  a  means 
of  resuming  trade.  We  had  no  written  agreement 
and  no  understanding  as  to  my  commission,  but  I 
was  content  to  start  work  on  that  basis  because  it 
meant  experience. 

It  was  customary  for  the  members  of  the  crew 
of  a  boat  to  buy  animals,  splitting  the  risk  between 
them,  and  sell  them  when  they  reached  European 
or  American  ports.  Soon  after  I  had  reached  the 
agreement  with  Mahommed  Ariff,  a  German  boat 
came  into  port  and  I  went  out  to  interview  the  cap- 
tain. I  found  that  he  had  had  previous  dealings  with 
the  Malay  and  that  he  had  sworn  never  to  buy  an- 
other animal  from  him.  Finally,  he  agreed  to  make 
some  purchases,  but  he  took  care  to  draw  up  a 
paper  in  which  he  said  that  he  was  buying  on  my 
representation. 

I  reported  the  deal  to  Mahommed  Ariff,  but  when 
I  went  the  next  morning  to  deliver  the  animals,  I 
found  that  he  had  sent  them  to  the  boat  during  the 
night  and  had  collected  the  money  for  them.  He 
refused  to  give  me  my  commission  because,  he  said, 
the  captain  was  an  old  customer  of  his.  The  boat 
was  about  to  sail  and  there  was  no  time  to  get  the 
captain  ashore  and  settle  the  dispute.  However,  I 
had  the  written  statement  signed  by  him,  that  the 
animals  had  been  bought  from  me,  and  I  surprised 
Mahommed  Ariff  by  suing  him.  He  was  a  surprised 
Malay  when  I  produced  the  paper  in  court,  and  he 


CIRCUS  DAYS  27 

paid  the  commission  and  costs.  The  result  of  the 
suit  was  that  I  gained  a  number  of  friends  and 
established  a  reputation. 

For  the  time  being,  all  deals  with  Mahommed 
Ariff  were  off,  of  course,  and  so  I  had  to  look  else- 
where for  business.  I  induced  a  Malay  hadji,  who 
had  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  to  take  me  to  his 
home  at  Palembang,  in  the  island  of  Sumatra.  He 
was  a  buyer  of  animals  from  the  people  of  his  dis- 
trict and,  as  he  did  much  of  his  selling  through 
Mahommed  Ariff,  he  hesitated  at  taking  me  with 
him.  But  I  pointed  out  the  advisability  of  having  a 
European  agent — all  white  men  were  considered 
Europeans.  The  vision  of  securing  more  business, 
without  being  robbed  constantly  by  Mahommed 
Ariff,  brought  him  around  to  my  proposition,  and 
we  went  together  to  the  Dutch  General  in  Singa- 
pore. I  told  the  Consul  General  my  plans,  and, 
after  I  had  presented  references  from  the  bank,  he 
gave  me  a  passport  and  a  personal  letter  to  the 
Dutch  Resident  at  Palembang.  Then  the  old  hadji 
and  I  started  off  for  Sumatra. 

This  was  really  my  start  in  the  business  of  ani- 
mal collecting.  At  Singapore  I  had  seen  enough 
to  know  that  the  work  I  wanted  to  do  was  not  sim- 
ply to  sell  the  animals  at  a  port,  but  to  capture  them 
in  the  jungle.  My  main  object  in  going  to  Suma- 
tra was  to  live  with  the  natives  and  learn  their 
methods  and  language,  so  that,  being  at  the  source 
of  the  supply  of  animals,  I  could  capture  and  sell 


28  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

with  practically  no  interference  from  Mahommed 
Ariff.  I  was  in  constant  communication  with  Gay- 
lord,  who  encouraged  me  in  my  idea  of  becoming 
a  collector;  also  I  put  myself  in  touch  with  the 
Australian  Zoological  Society. 

The  district  in  which  the  hadji  lived  had  a  popu- 
lation of  about  100,000,  made  up  of  Dutch,  Malays 
and  Chinese.  Back  of  the  settlement  lay  the  jun- 
gle; a  dense  virgin  forest  of  trees  that  were  bound 
together  by  a  woven  mass  of  creepers  and  vines. 
The  trunks,  rising  straight  and  smooth  for  fifty  or 
sixty  feet,  burst  into  foliage  that  formed  a  thick, 
green  canopy,  through  which  the  sun  rarely  filtered. 
On  the  ground,  the  vines,  palm  ferns,  tall  grasses 
and  rattan  made  a  wall  that  only  parangs,  the  native 
knives,  cutting  foot  by  foot,  could  penetrate.  The 
heat  of  the  open  spaces  in  the  tropics  is  blistering, 
but  that  of  the  jungle  is  damp  and  stifling;  moisture 
accumulates,  and  the  light  breezes  that  blow  over- 
head have  no  chance  of  moving  the  air  below,  which 
is  filled  with  the  smell  of  rotting  vegetation.  Espe- 
cially in  the  morning,  before  the  sun  has  a  chance 
to  bake  the  water  out,  it  is  a  drenching  business  to 
go  into  the  jungle. 

Notwithstanding  the  climate,  the  sight  of  such 
country  made  me  anxious  to  begin  work,  and  I  lost 
no  time  in  reporting  to  the  Dutch  Resident.  The 
Dutch  are  strict  in  their  colonial  government,  and, 
for  the  most  part,  they  have  good  reason  to  be  strict. 
One  white  man  who  does  not  understand  the  natives 


CIRCUS  DAYS  29 

and  who  has  no  consideration  for  them  may  start 
trouble  that  will  end  in  an  uprising.  The  trouble 
generally  comes  from  a  lack  of  regard  for  the 
native's  feeling  for  his  women.  Though  the  Malays 
live  a  fairly  loose  life,  they  resent  having  a  white 
man  take  their  women  and  they  generally  vent 
their  displeasure  in  murder.  That,  of  course,  means 
a  government  investigation,  with  ill-feeling  rising 
on  both  sides.  To  the  Dutch  Resident  I  explained 
my  purpose  in  wishing  to  live  in  the  Malay  quarter 
with  the  hadji,  and  he  gave  me  permission,  warning 
me  that  it  would  be  revoked  at  the  least  sign  of 
trouble. 

Thereupon,  with  the  hadji  leading,  I  took  my  be- 
longings to  his  house  and  settled  down  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  people.  They  regarded  me  cu- 
riously, but  when  the  hadji  introduced  me  by  saying 
"E-tu-twan  banyar  bye.  Dare  be-tole  (This  man 
is  very  good.  He  is  true),"  they  accepted  me  with- 
out question.  The  word  of  a  man  who  has  made 
a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  is  not  to  be  doubted  and  my 
dispute  with  Mahommed  Ariff  was  told  and  retold 
until  it  became  a  wonderfully  exaggerated  legend 
with  me  as  the  hero.  They  disliked  Ariff  because 
he  was  forever  swindling  them  when  they  captured 
animals. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  win  the  friendship  of  the 
natives,  if  you  know  how  to  treat  them.  If  they 
like  you,  they  become  doglike  in  their  devotion ;  they 
will  do  anything  you  tell  them  to  do  and  believe 


3o  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

whatever  you  say  as  though  it  were  gospel.  I  stud- 
ied them  closely,  learning  their  language  and 
customs  and  carefully  avoiding  anything  that  might 
bring  me  into  disfavor.  Day  after  day,  I  went  with 
them  into  the  jungle,  picking  up  bits  of  jungle- 
craft.  Gradually  I  learned  to  see  the  things  that 
they  saw  in  the  walls  of  green  about  us,  and  to 
interpret  the  sounds — the  hum  of  insects,  the  call 
of  birds,  the  chattering  of  monkeys  and  the  cries 
of  other  animals — and  I  spent  hours  with  them, 
squatting  in  their  houses,  busy  with  the  rudiments 
of  the  Malay  language. 

Once  during  the  eighteen  months  I  spent  with 
the  hadji,  I  was  haled  before  the  Resident  for  an 
investigation,  but  the  natives  stuck  by  me  valiantly 
and  I  was  exonerated.  The  trouble  started  one 
evening  when  I  was  sitting  on  the  hadji's  veranda. 
There  came  a  scream  from  one  of  the  houses,  and 
a  native  emerged,  howling  and  swinging  a  knife, 
slashing  at  every  one  within  reach — men,  women 
and  children.  He  was  running  amok,  a  victim  of 
the  strange  homicidal  mania  fairly  common  among 
the  Malays.  When  a  man  runs  amok,  he  suddenly 
begins  to  kill  and  he  does  not  care  whom — his  own 
family  or  people  he  has  never  seen  before.  The 
hadji  yelled  to  me  to  shoot.  I  pulled  out  my  revol- 
ver and  fired,  hitting  the  man  in  the  left  arm.  He 
stopped  for  a  moment ;  the  other  natives  seized  him 
and  stabbed  him  to  death.  At  the  investigation,  the 
hadji  explained  to  the  Resident  that  I  was  not 


CIRCUS  DAYS  31 

responsible  for  the  man's  death  and  that  I  had 
acted  on  his  suggestion,  to  save  the  lives  of  the 
natives.  As  the  man  had  slashed  about  eight  people 
before  I  shot,  the  Resident  ended  his  investigation 
by  thanking  me  and  renewing  my  permission  to 
live  in  the  Malay  quarter.  I  returned  to  the  hadji's 
house  more  popular  with  the  natives  than  ever 
before. 

A  native  came  running  to  the  hadji's  house  one 
day  with  the  news  that  he  had  seen  a  big  snake.  He 
said  that  it  was  at  least  fifty  feet  long  and  as  big 
as  a  tree.  Knowing  the  Malay  habit  of  exaggerat- 
ing, I  put  it  down  as  about  twenty  feet  long;  but  I 
gathered  a  crew  of  natives  and  we  built  a  crate 
from  the  limbs  of  trees  and  bamboo,  binding  it 
together  with  green  rattan.  According  to  the 
native's  tale,  the  snake  had  just  swallowed  a  pig, 
and  so,  knowing  that  where  he  had  first  been  seen, 
he  would  remain,  sleeping  and  digesting  his  meal, 
we  postponed  the  capture  until  the  next  morning. 

A  python  always  kills  his  food  by  coiling  around 
it  and  crushing  it  to  death;  then  he  swallows  it 
whole,  slobbering  so  that  it  will  pass  his  throat. 
During  the  digestive  process,  he  generally  becomes 
torpid  and,  without  putting  up  much  fight,  submits 
to  capture. 

Before  we  went  out  for  the  snake,  I  told  each 
man  what  he  was  to  do,  explaining  carefully  how 
I  intended  to  get  the  snake  into  the  crate.  When 
I  was  sure  that  they  understood,  we  started  into  the 


32  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

jungle,  led  by  the  native  who  made  the  discovery. 
I  was  surprised  to  find  the  largest  snake  I  had  ever 
seen.  It  looked  at  least  thirty  feet  long  and  about 
eighteen  inches  in  diameter.  For  a  moment  we 
stood  there  gasping. 

The  python  was  sleeping  peacefully,  digesting 
the  pig.  I  called  to  the  men  and  put  them  to  work 
at  staking  the  crate  to  the  ground  and  securing  it 
so  that  the  snake  could  not  lash  it  around.  The 
crate  was  about  eight  feet  long,  six  feet  wide  and 
two  and  one-half  feet  deep;  just  large  enough  to 
hold  him  and  just  small  enough  so  that,  once  inside, 
he  would  not  be  able  to  get  leverage  and  break  it. 
Again  I  explained  what  each  man  was  to  do.  Then 
I  passed  a  rope  through  the  crate,  tying  one  end 
to  a  tree  and  preparing  a  running  noose  to  be  slipped 
around  the  snake's  head  when  we  were  ready  to 
draw  him  forward.  Two  more  ropes  were  laid 
out,  running  from  his  tail.  These  we  wrapped 
around  trees  on  each  side  of  the  tail,  and  I  stationed 
men  at  the  ends,  showing  them  how  they  were  to 
pay  out  the  rope  as  the  snake  was  drawn  toward 
the  crate,  keeping  it  taut  enough  to  prevent  him 
from  lashing. 

The  python  slept  soundly  through  all  these  prep- 
arations. When  we  were  ready,  I  gathered  the  men 
about  me  and  cautioned  them  against  becoming 
excited.  I  warned  all  those  who  had  not  been 
given  work  to  do  to  stand  back  out  of  the  way  and 
not  to  approach  unless  we  needed  them. 


CIRCUS  DAYS  33 

With  bamboo  poles  we  prodded  the  snake  at  the 
head  and  tail,  standing  by  with  the  nooses,  ready 
to  slip  them  on  when  he  stirred  sufficiently.  Before 
he  realized  what  was  happening,  we  had  the  head- 
noose  over  him.  The  instant  he  felt  the  rope  tighten 
he  was  awake! 

The  natives  holding  the  tail-ropes  became  ex- 
cited and  succeeded  in  getting  only  one  of  them  in 
place.  The  python  suddenly  leaped  forward,  and, 
though  he  did  not  loosen  the  rope,  whipped  it  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  men  and  knocked  several  of 
them  flat;  then  he  caught  one  man,  who  had  not 
been  able  to  get  out  of  the  way,  and  wrapped  the 
lower  part  of  his  body  around  him  while  five  or 
six  feet  of  his  tail  still  lashed  about  with  the  rope. 
I  yelled  to  the  others  to  pull  on  the  tail-rope,  but  the 
confusion  was  so  great  that  they  did  not  hear  me. 
I  went  for  the  snake's  neck,  which  is  the  most  tender 
part  of  him,  hoping  to  sink  my  fingers  in  on  the 
nerve  center  and  disable  him  for  a  moment  until 
the  men  collected  their  senses  and  pulled  the  rope. 
By  jumping  forward,  the  snake  had  loosened  the 
head-rope  sufficiently  to  turn  on  me  and  sink  his 
fangs  into  my  forearm.  I  sprang  back. 

The  man  who  was  caught  in  the  snake's  coils 
screamed,  and  tried  to  beat  off  the  tail  as  it  was 
drawing  in  about  him.  Then  the  snake  constricted 
suddenly,  breaking  nearly  every  bone  in  the  man's 
body  and  crushing  the  life  out  of  him  instantly. 
Blood  spouted  from  his  mouth  and  ears,  and  he  was 


34  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

thrown  limply  about  as  the  snake  lashed  the  air. 

I  yelled  to  the  men  to  pull  the  head-rope  taut. 
Fortunately,  the  tail-rope  had  not  become  loose,  and 
we  caught  it  just  as  the  snake  tried  to  lurch  for- 
ward again.  We  allowed  him  to  move  forward 
slowly,  drawing  his  head  toward  the  crate  and,  at 
the  same  time,  holding  his  tail  until  we  had  him 
stretched  out.  By  prodding  his  tail  with  sticks,  we 
forced  him  to  uncoil  and  to  release  the  body  of  the 
native. 

The  head-noose  had  been  slipped  farther  down 
than  I  wanted,  and  was  giving  his  head  too  much 
play.  Assuring  the  men  that  he  could  do  no  more 
harm,  I  took  three  of  them  with  me  and  we  grabbed 
the  snake's  neck.  He  tossed  us  about,  and  we  had 
several  minutes  of  exciting  work  before  we  got 
the  head  into  the  open  end  of  the  crate.  When  the 
rope  was  secured,  we  fastened  another  rope  about 
the  middle  of  him. 

The  snake  lashed  furiously,  knocking  several  of 
the  natives  down.  Stationing  a  crew  of  men  at  the 
tail-rope  to  slacken  it  as  we  moved  forward,  I  took 
the  others  to  the  crate  and  set  them  at  pulling  on 
the  middle  rope.  As  we  dragged  the  python  for- 
ward, he  coiled  in  the  crate;  then,  when  he  was 
half  in,  we  secured  the  middle  rope  and  head-rope 
to  trees,  passed  the  tail-rope  through  the  crate  and 
dragged  the  tail  in.  There  was  great  rejoicing 
when  we  closed  the  end  of  the  crate  and  prepared 
to  haul  it  back  to  Palembang.  We  had  captured  a 


CIRCUS  DAYS  35 

prize  specimen.  Cross  of  Liverpool,  to  whom  I 
sold  him,  told  me  th?t  he  measured  thirty- two  feet. 
I  have  never  seen  his  equal  in  length  and  girth. 
But,  huge  as  he  was,  he  coiled  up  comfortably  in 
his  small  quarters,  promptly  fell  asleep  and  went  on 
digesting  his  pig. 


II 

JUNGLE  STRATAGEMS 

"^HE  entire  population  of  Palembang  came  to 
marvel  at  the  size  of  the  python,  and,  before  I 
realized  it,  I  had  acquired  a  wonderful  and  wide- 
spread reputation  as  a  collector.  I  was  soon  be- 
sieged by  requests  to  go  out  and  capture  all  kinds 
of  enormous  animals — most  of  them  imaginary,  of 
course,  for  a  Malay  can  imagine  anything.  Once 
he  starts  with  "Sahya  fikir  (I  think),"  you  may 
expect  to  hear  many  wonderful  tales  if  you  have 
time  to  stop  and  listen  to  him. 

To  Malays  nothing  seems  impossible,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  hold  them  down  to  actual  facts.  They 
will  hedge  about  with  "I  think"  and  "barang-kali 
(perhaps)"  until  you  give  up  in  disgust;  and  then 
they  will  offer  to  bring  their  brothers  or  other  rela- 
tives, who  will  repeat  the  performance.  Sometimes 
I  used  to  spend  hours  in  wondering  how  their  minds 
worked,  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  talk 
merely  with  a  desire  to  please.  They  want  to  tell 
anything  you  want  to  hear,  regardless  of  whether 
it  is  true  or  not.  It  is  exasperating  and  occasionally 
funny.  For  instance,  several  years  after  I  left 
Sumatra,  I  was  traveling  through  the  jungle,  look- 
ing for  elephants.  At  one  village  I  talked  with  the 


v»\«i  w«-     i    S^^BXW-^.  -T;>''  --  ^r:  ,;WHL-  fiStr.m  -  -  # 


"I  looked  up  just  as  a  black  leopard  sprang  at  us.  All's 
spear  whizzed  by  my  head,  hitting  the  animal  in  the  side.  I 
fired,  catching  him  in  mid-air  squarely  in  the  chest  with  an 
explosive  bullet." 


JUNGLE  STRATAGEMS  37 

Malay  headman,  who  represented  the  government 
in  that  locality,  and  the  conversation  turned  to 
large  elephants.  Jumbo,  who  was  eleven  feet  two 
inches,  had  died,  and  I  had  it  in  my  mind  that  I 
should  like  to  find  an  animal  big  enough  to  take  his 
place.  "Have  you  ever  seen  a  twelve-foot  ele- 
phant?" I  asked  the  headman.  And  as  quick  as  a 
flash,  he  answered,  "How  many  do  you  want?"  He 
could  not  understand  why  I  rolled  back  on  the  floor 
and  laughed  until  my  jaws  ached.  The  headman 
was  a  true  Malay. 

I  found  it  best,  in  trying  to  get  information  from 
a  Malay,  to  ask  my  question  and  then,  before  he  had 
a  chance  to  speak,  say:  "Jangan  flkir — jawdb  ya 
tidak.  Sahya  bulih  fikir.  (Don't  think — answer 
yes  or  no.  I'll  do  the  thinking)."  Then  he  would 
generally  admit  immediately  that  he  didn't  know, 
but  he  would  always  offer  to  bring  his  brother  or 
some  other  person  that  he  thought  might  know.  It 
is  a  trait  that  makes  business  relations  between  the 
whites  and  the  natives  difficult,  and  is  to  a  large 
degree  responsible  for  the  fact  that  much  of  the 
business  in  the  Archipelago  is  done  through  the 
Chinese.  The  Chinese  have  sufficient  patience  and 
understanding  to  deal  with  the  Malays,  and  they 
know  how  to  make  them  work. 

There  are  two  distinct  classes  of  Malay:  the 
Orang  Ulu,  living  in  the  jungle,  and  the  Orang 
Laut,  living  on  the  coast.  Through  their  associa- 
tion with  the  Chinese  merchants,  some  of  the  latter 


38  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

develop  into  clever  dealers,  but  for  the  most  part 
they  are  content  to  spend  their  lives  in  loafing.  They 
work  when  they  need  money,  but  they  need  so  little 
of  it  that  they  can  afford  to  idle  along  through  life. 
When  the  supply  of  food  runs  low,  they  put  out  in 
their  boats  at  daybreak  and  return  at  sundown  with 
fish.  These  are  sorted  and  left  to  dry,  afterward 
sorted  again,  according  to  their  market  value,  and 
sold  to  the  Chinese,  who  ship  them  in  palm-leaf 
baskets  to  Singapore.  Then  the  Malays  have  fin- 
ished their  work  for  another  month  or  so.  Often 
the  merchant  advances  money  for  future  delivery, 
and  the  Malays  find  themselves  obliged  to  work  for 
long  periods  to  keep  from  being  punished  for  debt. 
That  is  a  favorite  method  of  making  them  work. 
They  consider  themselves  gentlemen  and  despise 
the  Chinese  as  pig-eating  heathens.  If  they  must 
submit  to  working  for  the  Chinese  merchants,  they 
have  the  satisfaction  of  watching  the  coolies  do 
most  of  the  hard  labor  while  they  spend  their  days 
at  games. 

The  day's  routine  while  I  stayed  in  Palembang 
with  the  old  hadji  was  simple  and  pleasant.  I  lived 
with  him  and  his  first  wife — he  had  three  others. 
We  rose  early  and  went  for  a  swim  in  the  river,  and 
then,  squatting  on  the  floor  and  eating  with  our 
fingers,  we  breakfasted  on  fish  and  rice.  After 
breakfast,  the  hadji  and  I  would  stretch  out  on  our 
mats  and  smoke  and  talk  until  my  servant  came  to 
prepare  my  lunch.  A  Malay  eats  but  two  meals 


JUNGLE  STRATAGEMS  39 

a  day — always  rice  and  fish — but  I  found  that  two 
weren't  enough  for  me.  After  lunch  I  slept  through 
the  heat  of  the  day,  with  the  thermometer  climb- 
ing up  to  about  125°.  Then,  when  evening  came, 
Palembang  stirred  into  life. 

The  Malays  liked  games  and  they  were  contin- 
ually after  me  to  show  them  some  new  kind  of 
kindergarten  pastime.  It  made  no  difference 
whether  it  was  tag  or  diving  into  buckets  of  treacle 
after  money;  if  it  was  a  game,  they  liked  it.  Some 
of  them  knew  how  to  play  chess  and  they  gave 
whole  days  and  nights  to  it.  They  are  especially 
fond  of  gambling,  and  they  repeatedly  lose  all  their 
money  and  borrow  from  the  kind  merchant,  with 
the  result  that,  to  make  good  their  debts,  they  spend 
weeks  in  fishing. 

Occasionally  I  went  to  the  Dutch  quarter  to  seek 
a  few  hours  of  companionship  with  white  people, 
but  I  got  little  satisfaction  out  of  these  visits  be- 
cause I  could  speak  better  Malay  than  Dutch,  and 
at  Palambang  there  were  few  people  who  knew 
English.  The  white  people  could  not  understand 
why  I  preferred  living  with  the  natives,  and  some 
of  them  looked  down  on  me  for  it.  However,  that 
fact  did  not  trouble  me,  because  I  knew  what  I 
wanted  and  I  was  on  the  way  to  getting  it.  With 
the  hadji  I  learned  the  Malay  language  rapidly,  and 
before  long  I  knew  the  natives  far  better  than  the 
average  white  man  who  goes  to  work  in  the  Archi- 
pelago. For  the  most  part,  the  whites  make  no 


40  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

effort  to  understand  them  and  are  thus  largely 
responsible  for  the  troubles  that  arise.  In  recent 
years,  the  attitude  of  the  colonial  governments  has 
changed  for  the  better  and  there  have  been  fewer 
disturbances. 

The  natives  came  to  have  confidence  in  me,  espe- 
cially after  the  capture  of  the  python,  and  accepted 
me  as  a  friend.  Often  during  the  evening,  when 
the  hadji  and  I  sat  talking  on  the  veranda,  thirty 
or  forty  natives  would  squat  near  us,  listening  to 
the  conversation.  If  the  hadji  or  I  cracked  a  joke, 
they  would  laugh  uproariously — not  that  they  un- 
derstood what  had  been  said,  but  simply  because 
they  wanted  to  do  the  proper  thing. 

The  hadji's  nephew,  Ali,  became  my  devoted 
servant.  He  was  about  twenty  years  old  and  far 
more  intelligent  than  the  average ;  also  he  was  brave 
and  resourceful — qualities  that  made  him  my  most 
valuable  aid  until  he  was  killed  during  one  of  our 
expeditions  several  years  later. 

When  I  went  to  Singapore  with  the  python,  I 
took  Ali  with  me,  and  for  weeks  after,  he  enter- 
tained the  natives  of  Palembang — and  me — with  his 
stories  of  what  he  had  seen  and  done.  It  was  an 
excellent  example  of  the  feats  that  Malay  imagina- 
tion can  perform. 

In  Singapore  I  found  an  agent  of  Cross,  of  Liver- 
pool, of  whom  I  have  spoken,  and  sold  the  snake 
to  him  for  $300  (Mexican),  which  was  considered 
a  banner  price.  I  was  glad  to  have  the  opportunity 


of  making  myself  known  to  the  agent,  because  I 
foresaw  future  commissions.  He,  like  many  others, 
was  tired  of  doing  business  with  Mahommed  Ariff, 
who  took  every  possible  advantage  of  his  customers, 
and  he  was  pleased  to  find  a  white  man  in  the  field 
of  collecting. 

We  re-crated  the  python  and  shipped  him  off  to 
Liverpool,  after  feeding  him  twelve  ducks  each  day 
for  five  days.  With  that  stomachful,  he  could  last 
out  the  entire  voyage  and  arrive  in  England  with  a 
good  appetite. 

It  was  difficult  to  get  the  Malays  from  the  coast 
to  go  up  into  the  jungle.  They  fear  it  and  have 
superstitions  about  the  hantu  that  live  there.  Most 
of  the  men  refused  point-blank  when  I  asked  them 
to  accompany  me,  and  others  thought  of  various 
things  they  had  to  do  at  Palembang.  Ali  was  will- 
ing, however,  and  he  developed  into  an  expert  jun- 
gle-man. Boatmen  from  the  coast  poled  us  up  the 
rivers,  but  they  returned  to  the  coast  immediately 
because  they  were  unwilling  to  remain  away  from 
their  families. 

It  was  after  my  return  to  Palembang  that  I  be- 
came acquainted  with  the  inland  of  Sumatra  and 
with  the  Orang  Ulu,  who  are  quite  different  from 
their  brothers  on  the  coast.  They  are  more  indus- 
trious and  have  not  lost  their  simplicity  and  honesty 
by  coming  into  contact  with  Chinese  business 
methods.  They  received  us  kindly  and  I  had  no 
difficulty  in  making  friends  with  them.  During  the 


42  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

next  year  I  spent  much  of  my  time  inland,  in  hunt- 
ing and  fishing,  and  I  discovered  that  Sumatra  was 
not  the  field  for  collecting  that  I  had  expected  it  to 
be.  But  it  served  my  purposes  of  learning  the 
language  and  becoming  acquainted  with  the  people 
quite  as  well  as  any  other  part  of  the  Archipelago 
would  have  done ;  and  I  was  too  busy  studying  jun- 
gle-craft from  the  Orang  Ulu  to  think  of  leaving. 
Ali,  who  was  always  with  me,  was  an  invaluable 
aid.  He  was  a  first-rate  spear-thrower,  but  he 
wanted  to  be  a  good  shot.  He  took  great  pride  in 
my  50-110  express  gun,  which  he  carried  behind 
me.  He  had  a  trait  peculiar  in  Malays — he  was 
always  busy.  And  he  spent  a  great  deal  of  his 
energy  in  cleaning  and  polishing  the  gun,  hoping 
for  the  great  reward  of  being  allowed  to  shoot  it. 
Eventually  he  became  a  good  marksman.  The  other 
servant  who  accompanied  me  on  my  trips  into 
the  jungle  was  a  Chinese  coolie.  He  had  been  my 
rickshaw  boy  and  I  promoted  him  to  the  position  of 
cook  and  store-keeper.  Ali  was  intensely  jealous  of 
him  but  they  worked  well  together. 

Though  the  natives  made  a  sport  of  spear-throw- 
ing, they  had  given  over  that  method  of  hunting. 
They  were  armed  with  guns  that  I  honestly  believe 
dated  back  to  Revolutionary  times — old,  muzzle- 
loading  flintlocks.  Where  they  got  them  I  have 
never  been  able  to  discover.  They  were  fascinated 
by  my  50-110,  of  course,  and,  when  Ali  cleaned  it, 
they  squatted  about  him,  wide-eyed.  Whenever  I 


JUNGLE  STRATAGEMS  43 

saw  a  native  about  to  shoot  his  old  muzzle-loader,  I 
yelled  to  him  to  wait  until  I  got  well  behind,  because 
the  thing  sometimes  exploded.  It  was  a  wonder  to 
me  that  it  didn't  always  explode.  Except  when  he 
was  after  small  game,  a  native  loaded  his  gun 
nearly  to  the  end  of  the  muzzle  with  powder  before 
putting  in  the  wads  and  a  huge  slug  of  metal.  When 
he  pulled  the  trigger,  he  closed  his  eyes  and 
flinched  because  the  recoil  always  knocked  him  flat. 
But  he  expected  that  and  cheerfully  picked  himself 
up  from  the  ground  with  the  question,  "Did  I  hit 
it  ?"  And  often  he  did  hit  it — if  the  barrel  did  not 
explode.  I  have  seen  some  of  the  natives  with 
ordinary  iron  pipe  fitted  on  their  guns  to  replace 
the  barrels  that  had  not  been  able  to  stand  the 
strain. 

I  learned  in  the  jungle  that  the  hunter  must 
always  be  on  the  lookout  for  the  unexpected.  At 
first  it  was  difficult  for  me  to  distinguish  between 
all  the  sights  and  sounds  and  to  interpret  each  of 
them,  but  I  soon  learned  under  the  tuition  of  the 
natives.  One  great  danger  came  from  the  leopards, 
both  spotted  and  black,  who  lie  along  the  limbs  of 
trees  and  spring  without  warning.  A  tiger  slinks 
away  when  disturbed  in  the  daytime,  but  a  leopard 
almost  always  stands  his  ground  and  springs  as  one 
passes  beneath  him.  And  he  can  do  more  biting  and 
scratching  in  one  minute  than  a  tiger  can  in  three 
or  four  minutes. 

Ali's  alertness  saved  me  one  day  from  a  terrible 


44  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

mauling,  if  not  from  death.  We  were  breaking 
through  the  jungle  on  our  way  to  some  traps;  AH 
shouted  and  pushed  me  to  one  side,  shoving  my  gun 
into  my  hands.  I  looked  up,  setting  my  gun,  just  as 
a  black  leopard  sprang.  Ali's  spear  whizzed  by  my 
head,  I  fired,  catching  the  animal  in  mid-air  squarely 
in  the  chest  with  an  explosive  bullet.  Ali's  spear  hit 
him  in  the  side.  I  took  it  as  a  good  lesson  in  careful- 
ness. It  was  well  enough  to  be  on  the  alert  for  the 
animal  I  was  trailing,  but  it  was  also  important  to  be 
on  the  alert  for  the  animal  that  might  be  trailing 
me. 

A  favorite  native  method  of  hunting  is  with  bird- 
lime, which  is  a  mucilage  made  from  the  gum  of  a 
tree.  In  catching  tigers  or  leopards,  the  hunter 
spreads  out  the  birdlime  where  they  will  pass  and 
carefully  covers  it  with  leaves.  Immediately  after 
a  cat  animal  has  put  his  foot  in  the  stuff,  he  becomes 
so  enraged  and  helpless  that  he  is  easily  captured. 
It  is  very  much  like  putting  butter  on  a  house  cat's 
paws  to  keep  him  busy  until  he  becomes  accustomed 
to  a  new  home.  The  tiger  or  leopard  that  steps  in 
birdlime  doesn't  step  gracefully  out  of  it  and  run 
away;  he  tries  to  bite  the  stuff  from  his  feet  and 
then  he  gets  it  on  his  face.  When  he  tries  to  rub 
it  off,  he  plasters  it  over  his  eyes.  Finally,  when  he 
is  thoroughly  covered  with  it,  he  is  so  helpless  that 
without  much  danger  he  can  be  put  into  a  cage; 
and  there  he  spends  weeks  in  working  patiently  to 
remove  the  gum  from  his  fur.  Birds  and  monkeys 


JUNGLE  STRATAGEMS  45 

are  captured  in  birdlime  smeared  on  the  limbs  of 
trees;  they  stay  in  it  until  some  one  goes  up  and 
pulls  them  out. 

Another  way  of  capturing  small  monkeys  is  by 
means  of  a  sweetened  rag  in  a  bottle.  The  bottle 
is  covered  with  green  rattan  and  tied  to  a  tree.  The 
monkey  puts  his  hand  through  the  neck  and  grabs 
the  rag.  He  cannot  pull  his  hand  out  while  it  is 
doubled  up  with  the  rag  in  it,  and  he  hasn't  sense 
enough  to  let  go.  There  he  sticks,  fighting  with  the 
bottle,  until  the  hunter  comes  along  and,  by  press- 
ing the  nerves  in  his  elbow,  forces  him  to  open  his 
hand  and  leave  the  rag  for  the  next  monkey. 

We  snared  and  trapped  many  small  animals  and 
occasionally  built  pit-traps  for  tapirs.  The  natives 
sometimes  used  pits  for  marsh  elephants,  but  I  have 
never  seen  elephants  captured  in  them  without 
being  injured.  They  are  so  heavy  that  they  hurt 
themselves  in  falling. 

The  marsh  elephants  in  Sumatra  are  not  worth 
the  trouble  of  capturing,  since  they  are  weaker, 
shorter  lived  and  less  intelligent  than  the  other 
breeds.  They  bring  a  low  price,  and  consequently 
only  the  babies,  which  can  be  handled  and  trans- 
ported easily,  ever  reach  the  market.  The  usual 
procedure  among  the  natives  is  to  shoot  the  mother 
and  take  the  baby.  It  is  little  like  the  real  game 
of  elephant  hunting  as  I  found  it  later  in  Treng- 
ganu  and  Siam. 

Dynamiting  for  fish  is  a  great  sport  among  the 


46  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

Malays.  It  is  done,  of  course,  with  the  maximum 
chatter  and  excitement.  The  natives  line  the  banks 
of  the  stream  while  the  dynamite  is  dropped;  then 
they  rush  off,  some  in  boats  and  some  of  them  swim- 
ming, to  collect  the  fish  that  come  to  the  surface. 

Drugging  fish  is  another  method  of  capturing 
them  wholesale  without  much  trouble  or  work.  For 
this  purpose  the  natives  use  a  mixture  of  lime  and 
the  sap  from  the  roots  of  a  tuba  tree.  They  first 
warn  the  villages  down-stream  so  that  the  people 
will  not  drink  any  of  the  water ;  then  they  pour  out 
the  white  liquid.  It  spreads  over  the  stream,  mak- 
ing the  fish  mabok  (drunk),  as  the  Malays  say. 
They  rise  to  the  surface  and  are  gathered  into  boats. 

Except  for  such  annoyances  as  insects  and 
leeches,  which  fastened  on  my  skin  as  I  walked 
through  the  jungle,  those  days  in  Sumatra  were 
delightful.  We  hunted,  fished  and  played  games; 
there  was  nothing  to  worry  about  and  little  work 
to  do.  I  was  accepted  by  the  natives  as  one  of 
them.  I  wore  a  sarong  over  my  trousers,  and  I 
shouldn't  have  worn  the  trousers  if  my  skin  had  not 
been  so  sensitive  to  the  insects.  And,  of  course,  I 
had  shoes — the  great  barrier  between  castes.  The 
Malays  of  the  coast  towns  sometimes,  but  not  often, 
wear  shoes,  and  even  then  it  is  more  a  matter  of 
showing-off  than  of  being  comfortable.  I  did  every- 
thing possible  to  minimize  the  differences  between 
us  because  I  wanted  to  know  them  as  they  were, 
not  as  they  thought  I  wanted  them  to  be.  They 


JUNGLE  STRATAGEMS  47 

rapidly  lost  their  self-consciousness  and  treated  me 
simply  as  a  companion  who  knew  more  than  they 
knew — and  who  had  a  wonderful  gun  and  a  kit  of 
medicine. 

In  jungle  countries  white  men  are  always  sup- 
posed to  possess  great  knowledge  of  medicines  and 
curing,  and  I  was  often  called  upon  to  act  as  doctor. 
At  first  the  Malays  showed  some  hesitancy  at 
accepting  the  orang  puteh  ubat  (the  white  man's 
medicine),  but  gradually  they  became  less  shy. 
During  my  circus  days  I  had  acquired  a  knowl- 
edge of  first-aid  work,  and  in  the  jungle  I  became 
quite  proficient  in  patching  people  up.  They  be- 
lieved that  most  ailments  could  be  cured  by  their 
own  doctors,  who  heal  by  magic,  but  they  were  glad 
to  have  me  prescribe  for  them  when  magic  failed  to 
work. 

The  Malay  doctor  is  supposed  to  be  favored  by  a 
spirit,  and  a  bdtu  bintang  (star  stone)  is  given  to 
him  while  he  sleeps.  In  other  words,  he  is  made 
and  not  born  a  doctor.  His  batu  bintang  is  just  one 
of  the  charms  with  which  he  effects  cures.  He  has 
a  batu  that  is  a  petrified  part  of  a  Sembilan  fish. 
Water  in  which  this  has  been  soaked  is  given  to 
the  patient  to  drink  or  is  rubbed  on  the  part  affected. 
Other  charms  are  the  bdtu  lintar  (thunderbolt), 
which  is  rubbed  wherever  pain  is  felt;  another 
batu,  also  a  thunderbolt,  which  is  a  piece  of  crystal ; 
a  batu  that  is  part  of  the  backbone  of  some  animal ; 
one  that  is  another  piece  of  crystal;  and,  finally, 


48  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

the  pelican  stone.  This  last  is  the  most  highly 
prized  of  all.  It  secures  the  magic  presence  and 
cooperation  of  a  spirit  that  dwells  in  the  pelican. 
When  the  doctor  is  seeking  to  enter  the  spirit 
world  in  search  of  the  soul  of  the  sick  person,  this 
spirit  ensures  to  him  a  swift  passage  there  and  back. 
The  crystal  stone  is  indispensable  in  discovering 
where  the  wandering  soul  of  the  sick  person  is  in 
hiding  and  for  detecting  the  spirit  who  is  causing 
the  sickness.  And  the  backbone  batu  cures  dysen- 
tery, indigestion  and  consumption. 

In  practicing  medicine  for  the  benefit  of  the  na- 
tives, I  worked  out  one  theory  in  regard  to  leprosy, 
which  is  a  fairly  common  ailment  in  the  Archipel- 
ago. I  asked  myself  why,  since  a  snake  sheds  its 
skin,  a  man  who  is  afflicted  with  disease  should  not 
be  able  to  do  the  same  thing. 

In  Singapore  there  was  a  rich  Chinese  leper, 
known  as  Ong  Si  Chou,  who  asked  me  repeatedly 
why  I  did  not  bring  him  some  new  remedy  for  his 
disease.  Since  he  had  a  large  household  of  servants 
who  took  care  of  him,  and  his  own  carriages  and 
rickshaws  when  he  traveled,  he  was  allowed  to  live 
untroubled  by  the  authorities ;  but  he  was  very  un- 
happy, because  he  had  tried  all  the  remedies  of  the 
native  doctors  and  was  steadily  growing  worse.  At 
last  I  told  him  that  I  had  something  that  might 
help.  He  asked  me  what  it  was  but  I  would  not 
tell  him.  When  he  insisted,  I  answered,  "Snakes." 

"Uh-la!"  he  exclaimed,  waving  his  arms  in  the 


JUNGLE  STRATAGEMS  49 

air.  Then  I  explained  my  theory.  The  ability  of  a 
snake  to  shed  his  skin  might  be  transferred  to  a 
human  being  if  he  ate  snakes ;  and  if  so,  the  person 
would  be  able  to  shed  his  leprosy.  Ong  Si  Chou 
did  not  care  for  the  idea  at  all,  but  I  told  him  it  was 
worth  trying  and  I  argued  that  a  snake  is  much 
cleaner  than  an  eel.  At  last  he  consented,  and  I 
furnished  him  with  a  number  of  small  pythons, 
with  the  instructions  that  they  were  to  be  killed 
and  cleaned  immediately  before  they  were  eaten. 
He  was  to  eat  them  raw  with  his  rice. 

I  left  Singapore  soon  after  that,  and,  when  I 
returned,  I  found  that  Ong  Si  Chou  had  died.  Peo- 
ple thought  it  was  a  great  joke  on  me  because  my 
patient  had  not  survived  the  treatment,  but  I  am 
far  from. being  convinced  that  the  cure  will  not 
work — or,  at  least,  help  to  throw  off  leprosy.  Ong 
Si  Chou  was  in  the  last  stages  of  the  disease,  and 
his  case  was  not  a  fair  test. 

After  living  eighteen  months  with  the  Malays  in 
Sumatra,  I  decided  that  I  was  well  enough  equipped 
to  leave  and  begin  the  work  of  collecting  wherever 
I  could  find  the  animals  I  wanted.  I  went  to  Singa- 
pore and  found  that  Ariff  had  been  maligning  me 
to  his  heart's  content.  I  called  upon  him  to  see 
what  he  had  to  say  for  himself  and  he  prophesied 
dismal  failure  for  all  my  plans.  However,  I  engaged 
passage  on  a  coast  steamer  going  northward,  and 
stopped  off  at  Kelantan,  Patani  and  Singgora,  in 
Lower  Siam.  At  those  places  I  gathered  all  the 


50  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

information  I  could  about  animals  and  made  myself 
known  to  dealers.  I  wanted  to  make  trips  to  the 
interior,  but  to  do  so  I  needed  a  special  permit  from 
Bangkok.  Instead,  I  made  agreements  with  all 
the  dealers  that  they  were  to  send  their  animals 
to  me,  and  arranged  with  the  captains  and  chinchiis 
of  the  coast-boats  for  the  transportation  of  the 
crates.  By  offering  to  pay  the  freight  and  give 
them  a  fair  share  of  the  profit,  I  cut  off  a  large  part 
of  Ariff's  business. 

On  my  return  to  Singapore,  I  found  a  letter 
from  the  director  of  the  Melbourne  Zoological  So- 
ciety, suggesting  that  I  come  to  Australia  with  a 
consignment  of  animals.  A  few  weeks  later  I 
arrived  at  Melbourne  with  a  black  leopard,  twenty- 
five  small  monkeys,  two  small  orang-outangs,  a  pair 
of  civet  cats  and  numerous  other  animals.  Mr.  La 
Souef,  the  director,  and  his  son,  who  had  just  been 
appointed  director  of  the  zoological  gardens  at 
Perth,  met  me  at  the  dock.  His  son  bought  the 
entire  consignment.  The  result  of  this  visit  was  my 
appointment  as  agent  of  the  Australian  zoological 
gardens.  In  return  for  giving  them  first  call  on  any 
animals  that  came  into  my  hands,  I  was  given  a 
retaining  fee.  The  most  important  part  of  the 
agreement  was  that  the  animals  were  to  be  shipped 
f.  o.  b.  Singapore  and  that  I  was  thus  released  from 
all  the  risks  of  transportation. 

It  happened  too  often  that  animals  died  aboard 
ship,  after  weeks  had  been  spent  in  capturing  them 


JUNGLE  STRATAGEMS  51 

and  bringing  them  to  port,  and  this  loss  was  invar- 
iably borne  by  the  dealer.  Since  the  agreement 
with  the  Australian  zoological  gardens  was  exactly 
what  I  wanted,  I  returned  to  Singapore  elated. 
Arifr"  was  crestfallen  when  he  heard  the  news,  and 
he  became  more  crestfallen  when  I  called  on  him 
and  told  him  about  the  commission  I  had  received 
from  various  societies  in  Australia.  I  did  not  want 
to  have  him  as  an  enemy,  and  I  foresaw  that  there 
would  be  war  between  us  unless  we  came  to  some 
sort  of  terms.  Consequently,  I  told  him  that  I 
wanted  to  work  with  him,  and  that  we  could  do  a 
great  deal  of  business  together  if  he  would  treat 
me  fairly.  He  considered  the  matter  for  a  time, 
and  then,  when  he  saw  that  I  was  getting  much 
higher  prices  for  animals  than  he,  he  decided  that 
I  was  right. 

One  of  my  Australian  commissions  was  to  secure 
for  the  New  Gardens,  at  Perth,  a  pair  of  tigers — 
male  and  female  and  unrelated.  I  sent  the  word 
out  among  animal  dealers,  and,  shortly  after,  I 
received  a  cable  from  a  Calcutta  dealer  named  Rut- 
ledge,  asking  me  to  come  at  once.  I  took  the  next 
boat  to  Calcutta  and  found  that  there  were  two 
tigers  up-country  near  Hazaribagh,  a  mica  mining 
district  about  three  hundred  miles  northwest  of 
Calcutta,  off  the  line  of  the  railroad. 

I  was  warned  that  it  was  a  dangerous  country  to 
go  through  and  that  the  people  were  thieves.  It 
was  suggested  to  me  that  I  hire  a  native  of  the 


52  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

locality  to  protect  me.  He  would  do  all  the  stealing 
he  could,  they  told  me,  but  he  would  prevent  the 
others  from  stealing. 

The  trip  was  made  with  a  retinue  of  servants, 
cooks,  bearers  and  runners,  each  with  his  own 
little  task.  It  was  my  first  experience  with  the  caste 
system,  and  I  was  amazed  at  the  number  of  people 
I  had  to  take  with  me.  We  traveled  by  the  main 
road  for  two  hundred  miles ;  then  by  a  branch  road 
to  a  place  called  Pachamba.  The  remainder  of  the 
trip  was  made  by  ox-teams  and  bearers,  along  the 
line  of  the  government  rest-houses  erected  for  the 
use  of  officials  visiting  the  country. 

We  stopped  at  a  rest-house  about  three  miles 
from  the  village,  and  I  sent  the  boy  on  ahead  to 
buy  food  for  us  and  to  get  information  about  the 
tigers.  Then  we  engaged  one  of  the  local  natives 
to  act  as  guide  and  guard.  I  was  exhausted  by  the 
trip  and  soon  after  supper  I  went  to  sleep. 

A  few  hours  after  dark,  I  was  awakened  by  the 
most  unearthly  yell  I  have  ever  heard.  I  jumped  up 
and  called  the  boy  I  had  brought  from  Calcutta.  He 
was  trembling  with  fright  and  he  said  that  he  didn't 
know  what  the  noise  meant.  Remembering  all  the 
tales  I  had  heard  about  the  people  of  this  district, 
I  ordered  the  boy  to  bar  the  doors  and  windows  and 
to  lay  out  my  guns.  I  was  well  armed  with  auto- 
matics and  revolvers  and  I  prepared  for  a  battle. 
Presently  there  came  another  yell,  answered  on  all 
sides  of  us.  With  my  guns  loaded  and  ready,  I  sat 


JUNGLE  STRATAGEMS  53 

there  waiting.  Every  few  minutes  the  yell  was 
repeated,  and  it  seemed  to  be  getting  closer  and 
closer.  At  last,  however,  in  spite  of  it,  I  fell  asleep, 
exhausted. 

I  was  awakened  in  the  morning  by  the  cook 
bringing  my  breakfast  and  the  jingling  of  the  ankle 
bells  of  a  mail-runner,  who  was  passing  the  house 
on  his  fifteen-mile  run.  After  I  had  finished  eating, 
the  cook  returned  with  the  native  who  had  been 
hired  to  guard  us.  The  native  salaamed  and  spoke 
to  the  boy,  who  acted  as  interpreter. 

"What  is  he  saying?"  I  asked  the  boy. 

"He  says  that  he  is  the  head  watchman  and  he 
wants  to  know  if  you  slept  well  with  him  watching 
over  you."  The  yells  that  had  kept  me  up  most  of 
the  night  were  the  "All's  well"  of  the  watchmen. 
Much  to  the  amazement  of  the  cook  and  the  guard 
who  had  come  to  inquire  after  my  night's  rest,  I 
burst  out  laughing.  I  laughed  so  hard  that  I  sat 
down  on  the  floor  and  put  my  head  against  my  knees 
— I  howled. 

The  guard  was  given  a  few  rupees  and  told  to 
keep  his  watchmen  farther  away  from  the  house 
the  next  night.  To  this  day,  when  I  think  of  myself 
sitting  up  all  night,  dead  tired  and  fighting  off 
mosquitoes,  while  my  guards  became  imaginary 
thieves  about  to  attack  me,  I  laugh. 

The  headman  of  the  village  arrived  with  several 
natives  and  I  went  with  them  to  inspect  the  tigers — 
two  beautifully  marked  animals.  I  closed  the  bar- 


54  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

gain  immediately  and  made  arrangements  to  re- 
cage  the  tigers  and  haul  them  by  ox-teams  to  Cal- 
cutta. 

At  Perth  the  directors  of  the  New  Gardens  were 
so  pleased  with  the  tigers  that  they  sent  me  a  good 
bonus  for  my  trouble  in  securing  them.  And  my 
story  about  the  thieves  of  Hazaribagh  was  the  joke 
of  the  year. 

There  came  a  dearth  of  good  animals  at  Singa- 
pore, and  so  I  determined  to  go  into  the  state  of 
Trengganu  to  see  what  luck  I  should  have  at  col- 
lecting. Trengganu  was  at  that  time  an  indepen- 
dent state  and  had  never  been  thoroughly  explored. 
The  Sultan  who  ruled  over  it  was  unwilling  to  have 
white  men  in  the  country  because  he  feared  that 
his  state  might  become  a  protectorate  of  one  of  the 
larger  powers.  He  was  wise  enough  to  realize  that 
if  a  white  man  entered  and  committed  some  such 
indiscretion  as  interfering  with  one  of  the  native 
women,  the  white  man  would  be  found  with  a  kris 
stuck  into  him.  And  the  result  would  probably  be 
that  the  white  man's  government  would  send  sol- 
diers to  depose  the  Sultan  and  take  over  the  govern- 
ment. He  wanted  nothing  more  than  to  be  left 
alone  with  his  country,  and  so  he  made  it  a  law  that 
foreigners  were  not  allowed. 

At  Singapore  one  heard  many  tales  of  the  wealth 
of  animals  in  Trengganu,  but  it  was  generally  con- 
ceded that  it  was  impossible  for  a  white  man  to 


JUNGLE  STRATAGEMS  55 

enter  the  country.  For  my  part,  though  I  had  no 
idea  how  to  win  the  Sultan  to  my  way  of  thinking, 
I  decided  that  it  would  be  at  least  as  easy  as  getting 
a  permit  to  go  into  Lower  Siam.  That  would  have 
required  interviewing  H.  H.  Prince  Damerong, 
brother  of  the  King  of  Siam  and  Minister  of  the 
Interior,  which  was  no  easy  matter  for  so  obscure 
a  person  as  I. 

Meanwhile  the  rumor  reached  us  that  an  im- 
mense herd  of  elephants  was  crossing  from  the 
State  of  Pahang  into  Trengganu,  and  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  act  instantly.  A  roaming  herd  of  elephants 
is  so  serious  a  menace  to  rice-crops  that  I  thought 
the  Sultan  might  not  object  to  having  the  assistance 
of  a  foreigner  in  capturing  them.  In  any  event,  the 
chance  was  worth  taking. 

With  the  German  captain  of  a  small  coast- 
steamer  that  called  at  Trengganu  every  three  weeks, 
I  made  arrangements  to  drop  me  there.  He  protested 
that  it  was  a  senseless  undertaking ;  that  I  wouldn't 
be  allowed  to  land;  that,  if  I  was  allowed  to  land, 
the  Sultan  would  refuse  to  see  me ;  that,  if  the  Sultan 
granted  me  an  interview,  he  would  surely  refuse 
to  let  me  go  inland ;  and  that,  if  he  allowed  me  to  go 
inland,  I  would  be  killed  by  the  natives.  All  the 
way  up  the  coast,  I  listened  to  his  arguments,  and, 
when  he  asked  me  if  I  had  changed  my  mind,  I 
answered,  "You  just  put  me  down  on  the  beach, 
blow  your  whistle  and  go  along." 


56  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

Weeks  later,  when  he  returned  and  asked  about 
me,  the  natives  replied,  "Sir,  the  master  is  in  the 
jungle  catching  elephants." 

I  was  on  the  biggest  and  most  exciting  elephant 
hunt  of  my  life. 


Ill 

ELEPHANTS 

T  WAITED  on  the  beach  at  Trengganu  for  a  few 
•*•  minutes,  until  the  German  steamer  was  well  out 
of  the  way;  then  I  sent  my  Chinese  boy  into  the 
village  to  engage  living  quarters.  He  returned  pres- 
ently with  the  information  that  a  Chinese  trader 
had  offered  to  put  me  up.  AH  and  I  followed  him 
up  the  street  of  the  village,  with  a  group  of  inquisi- 
tive natives  at  our  heels. 

Soon  after  I  had  finished  my  first  meal  at  the 
trader's  house,  a  tunku  (petty  prince)  appeared 
with  his  followers.  The  meeting  was  solemn  and 
formal,  and  he  went  through  the  ritual  of  inquiring 
after  my  health,  though  I  could  see  that  inquisi- 
tiveness  was  gnawing  at  him.  At  last  he  asked 
bluntly  what  my  object  was  in  coming  to  Treng- 
ganu. 

"I  have  come  to  see  the  Sultan  on  important 
business." 

He  told  me  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  me 
to  see  the  Sultan  and  offered  to  deliver  my  mes- 
sage. I  waved  him  aside  and  told  him  that  I  must 
see  the  Sultan  personally. 

"Impossible,"  he  replied,  and  departed  in  the 
direction  of  the  palace.  The  palace  was  a  half- 
finished,  two-story  brick  dwelling.  The  Sultan  had 

57 


58  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

never  been  able  to  gather  enough  money  to  have 
the  building  completed ;  but,  at  that,  it  was  the  most 
imposing  house  in  Trengganu. 

An  hour  later,  I  started  out  with  AH  and  the 
Chinese  boy  for  the  palace,  to  pay  my  respects  to 
the  Sultan  and  make  another  request  for  an  inter- 
view. At  the  gate  I  was  met  by  a  tunku,  who  told 
me  that  the  Sultan  would  not  receive  me.  I  re- 
turned to  the  trader's  house  and  slept  through  the 
hot  afternoon.  When  evening  came,  I  went  again 
to  the  palace  and  met  with  the  same  reception. 

Twice  a  day  for  the  entire  week  I  called  at  the 
palace.  I  appeared  to  be  making  no  headway,  but 
I  had  been  associated  with  the  Malays  long  enough 
to  know  that  the  Sultan  could  not  bear  the  strain 
much  longer.  Also,  I  knew  that  if  I  gave  a  tunku 
the  least  inkling  of  my  purpose,  all  my  hopes  of 
hunting  in  Trengganu  would  be  wrecked. 

The  Sultan  gave  in  at  last;  he  sent  word  to  the 
gate  that  he  would  receive  me,  and  I  was  ushered 
into  the  "reception  room"  of  the  palace.  The  Sultan, 
a  middle-aged,  scholarly-looking  man,  was  waiting 
for  me,  with  his  retinue  squatted  around  him.  I 
gave  him  my  card. 

"What  is  it?"  he  asked. 

"My  name,"  I  replied,  bowing. 

"What  country  are  you  from?" 

"America." 

He  looked  surprised  and  asked  if  I  was  English, 
French  or  Dutch;  he  thought  that  all  white  men 


ELEPHANTS  59 

must  be  of  one  of  those  races  and  that  America 
was  probably  a  colony. 

Fortunately,  I  had  some  maps  with  me.  I  spread 
them  on  the  floor  and  held  a  class  in  geography, 
with  the  Sultan  and  his  retinue  bending  over  me, 
listening  intently.  The  Sultan  was  as  enthusiastic 
on  the  subject  of  America  as  if  he  had  discovered 
the  country.  I  told  him  about  our  president  and 
how  he  is  elected,  about  the  states  and  governors 
and  the  legislatures  and  Congress. 

At  last  he  lost  interest  in  America  and  asked 
why  I  had  come  to  Trengganu.  I  told  him  I  had 
come  to  trap  animals  and  I  wanted  his  permission. 
He  shook  his  head  and  replied  that  there  were  no 
animals  in  Trengganu. 

"If  you  will  send  your  messengers  out,"  I  an- 
swered, "you  will  find  that  an  immense  herd  of 
elephants  is  crossing  from  Pahang  into  your 
country." 

"How  do  you  know  ?" 

"I  heard."  It  was  a  Malay  answer,  and  I  could 
see  that  he  was  interested.  A  roaming  herd  of 
elephants  is  dangerous;  it  spoils  rice  crops,  terror- 
izes the  natives — and  most  important  of  all — re- 
duces the  Sultan's  income. 

He  ordered  coffee  and  Malay  cakes  and  plunged 
into  thought.  The  coffee  was  muddy  and  bitter, 
but  I  drank  it  joyfully  because  I  knew  the  Sultan, 
being  worried,  would  probably  see  the  wisdom  of 
allowing  me  to  enter  his  country  and  capture  the 


60  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

elephants.  Also  I  suggested  that  he  would  receive 
a  bonus  on  each  animal  I  captured.  He  nodded 
and  asked  me  to  come  to  the  palace  the  next  day. 

Each  day  for  three  weeks  I  called  on  him  and 
spent  hours  in  telling  him  of  my  travels.  And  he 
told  me  something  of  the  worries  of  being  a  Sultan. 
He  was  afraid  that  one  of  the  big  powers  would 
establish  a  protectorate  over  Trengganu,  depose  him 
and  reduce  his  people  to  slavery.  He  knew  very 
little  of  foreigners,  but  he  had  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  keep  them  out. 
What  did  I  think  was  the  best  plan?  We  held 
long  conferences,  in  which  I  enlightened  him  on 
the  ways  of  white  men.  The  subject  of  elephant 
hunting  scarcely  came  into  the  conversations,  but 
I  knew  that  he  had  sent  messengers  out  to  see  if 
there  was  any  truth  in  my  story  about  the  herd 
crossing  from  Pahang.  I  was  slowly  winning  his 
confidence;  everything  depended  upon  the  truth  of 
that  rumor  I  had  picked  up  in  Singapore. 

Exactly  three  weeks  after  our  first  meeting,  he 
greeted  me  with  the  words:  "Tuan  chdkap  betid 
(Sir,  you  spoke  the  truth)." 

"I  always  speak  the  truth,"  I  answered,  as  if  I 
were  annoyed.  The  messengers  had  returned  with 
the  news  that  the  herd  had  been  seen  near  the 
Pahang  River. 

He  asked  what  I  proposed  to  do,  and  I  drew  a 
diagram  of  the  trap  I  wanted  to  build.  He  asked 
if  it  would  not  be  a  better  plan  to  shoot  the  big 


ELEPHANTS  61 

elephants  and  capture  the  young.  I  put  stress  on 
the  royalty  payments  he  would  receive,  and  thus  I 
won  him  to  my  way  of  thinking. 

He  assigned  his  nephew  Omar — a  tunku — to  the 
duty  of  assisting  me,  and  gave  him  full  power  to 
force  as  much  labor  as  we  might  need.  A  few 
days  later,  Omar  and  I,  accompanied  by  the  Sultan, 
sailed  down  the  coast  to  the  Pahang.  It  was  a 
wide,  deep  river,  infested  with  crocodiles;  settle- 
ments dotted  the  banks.  At  each  of  these  we 
stopped  and  called  on  the  headmen  to  conscript 
labor. 

Since  the  men  had  to  supply  their  own  food  and 
travel  in  their  own  boats,  the  cost  of  the  expedition 
was  reduced  to  nothing.  We  arranged  that  the 
men  might  be  replaced  by  others  from  their  villages, 
because  they  were  loath  to  remain  long  away  from 
their  families. 

Five  days  after  leaving  the  capital,  we  arrived 
at  the  place  where  the  herd  had  been  located.  We 
disembarked.  There  followed  two  weeks  of  hunt- 
ing before  we  found  the  spoor  that  told  us  we  had 
reached  the  elephants. 

It  was  dense  jungle;  undergrowth,  creepers  and 
vines  bound  the  trees  together.  The  lack  of  sun- 
light and  the  dense  atmosphere  made  progress 
slow.  Sometimes  the  task  of  driving  elephants 
on  foot  through  such  country  seemed  hopeless,  but 
I  kept  the  men  at  work,  hacking  out  trails  with 
parangs — their  big  knives.  The  insects  were 


62  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

frightful,  and  we  were  all  covered  with  bites.  I 
developed  fever  and  went  about  so  "groggy"  that 
I  was  not  at  all  sure  of  myself;  but  huge  doses  of 
quinine  and  the  excitement  of  tracking  so  large  a 
herd  kept  me  going. 

The  scouts  reported  that  the  herd  numbered 
about  one  hundred.  I  assigned  fifty  men  to  sur- 
round the  elephants  and  keep  them  moving  in  a 
circle  within  a  definite  area  while  we  built  the 
stockade. 

The  work  of  making  the  trap  was  prodigious. 
Trees,  twenty  to  twenty-five  feet  in  length  and  a 
foot  and  a  half  in  diameter,  were  cut  down  and 
dragged  through  the  jungle  for  half  a  mile  or  more 
to  the  spot  I  had  selected.  These  were  planted  five 
feet  in  the  ground  and  braced  by  three  smaller 
trees,  so  that  they  could  stand  the  enormous  pres- 
sure of  elephants  trying  to  lunge  through  them. 
The  trap  was  round — about  seventy-five  feet  in 
diameter — with  two  wings,  each  one  hundred  feet 
long,  converging  to  the  entrance.  After  planting 
and  bracing  all  the  posts,  we  bound  them  together 
with  heavy  ropes  made  of  twisted  rattan,  and  then 
covered  them  with  vines  and  leaves.  For  all  this 
work  the  natives  had  no  tools  except  their  par- 
angs. It  was  amazing  to  see  the  rapidity  with 
which  they  cut  down  the  big  trees  and  slashed  trails 
through  the  jungle.  Omar  and  I  were  with  them 
constantly,  keeping  up  their  enthusiasm  and  excite- 
ment. 


ELEPHANTS  63 

In  building  the  trap  we  took  great  care  not  to 
disturb  the  jungle  through  which  the  elephants 
were  to  be  driven.  Like  all  jungle  animals,  elephants 
can  see  at  night,  and  there  is  always  the  danger  of 
a  stampede  unless  precautions  are  taken  against 
arousing  suspicion.  The  jungle  leading  up  to  the 
wings  was  untouched;  and  the  wings  and  the  trap 
could  scarcely  be  distinguished  from  the  dense 
growth  that  surrounded  them.  In  the  runway  and 
in  the  trap  the  jungle  was  still  standing  without 
injury. 

When  the  stockade  was  completed,  an  old  Sia- 
mese priest  offered  to  perform  the  ceremony  that 
would  bring  the  blessing  of  the  deity  of  the  jungle 
upon  the  drive.  A  white  cock  was  found  and  fast- 
ened in  the  center  of  the  trap.  The  priest  selected 
a  hundred  men  and  stationed  them  near  the  entrance 
with  fruits  and  branches  of  trees;  then,  with  two 
natives,  he  withdrew  into  the  jungle.  Presently  we 
heard  them  shouting.  They  came  through  the  un- 
dergrowth, chanting  and  striking  the  trees  with 
their  spears  and  parangs.  The  priest  rushed 
through  the  runway  into  the  trap  and  seized  the 
cock.  With  his  knife  he  severed  its  head.  Then, 
while  the  natives  joined  in  a  chorus  of  shouts,  he 
ran  about  the  trap,  sprinkling  the  blood.  Instead 
of  coming  out  through  the  gate,  he  crawled  between 
the  posts.  The  ceremony  ended,  and  the  natives 
were  ready  to  begin  the  hunt. 

Word  came  from  the  men  who  were  watching 


64  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

that  the  herd  was  four  miles  away.  I  gathered  the 
natives  around  me,  explained  all  the  details  of  the 
drive  and  assigned  men  to  the  various  tasks.  Then 
we  started  in  a  body  to  get  behind  the  herd.  Every 
five  hundred  yards,  I  stationed  a  man  in  a  tree  to 
steer  the  drive. 

Driving  elephants  at  night  is  a  slow,  trying,  dan- 
gerous job.  It  means  fighting  every  foot  of  the  way 
through  dense  jungle  and  keeping  up  a  continual 
hubbub  of  tom-toms  and  shouts.  The  elephants  wish 
to  avoid  the  noise  and  they  move  slowly  away  from 
it,  crashing  through  the  trees  and  vines.  The  men 
who  are  directly  behind  have  the  easiest  time,  for 
they  can  follow  the  trails  broken  by  the  elephants; 
those  on  the  side  must  cut  trails  with  their  parangs. 
No  lights  can  be  used,  and  care  must  be  taken  to 
avoid  the  little  elephants,  which  roam  about,  investi- 
gating the  noise.  If  they  see  a  man  and  give  the 
danger-signal,  the  entire  herd  stampedes. 

When  we  arrived  behind  the  herd,  I  spread  the 
men  out  in  a  U  formation,  warning  them  to  make 
no  noise  until  the  signal  was  given.  With  AH  stand- 
ing near  me  with  my  express  rifle,  I  waited  until 
darkness  came;  then  I  gave  the  signal  and  started 
forward.  Ali,  Omar,  the  priest,  my  Chinese  boy 
and  a  few  others  followed  along  behind  me,  shout- 
ing. The  noise  was  taken  up  on  each  side  of  us,  and 
presently  we  heard  the  elephants  moving  forward, 
throwing  their  great  hulks  against  the  jungle 
growths.  The  night  was  black,  and  we  stumbled 


ELEPHANTS  65 

on,  guided  only  by  the  calls  of  the  men  in  the  trees. 
Insects  swarmed  about  us,  biting  until  we  were 
frantic.  Sometimes  the  noise  on  either  the  left  or 
the  right  suddenly  increased,  and  we  knew  that  the 
herd  had  veered  in  that  direction  and  that  the  men 
were  frightening  them  off. 

Dawn  came,  and  we  found  that  we  had  driven 
them  a  mile  and  a  half.  It  had  been  exhausting 
work.  I  posted  guards  to  watch  the  herd,  and  we 
slept  until  late  in  the  afternoon.  Our  bodies  were 
covered  with  welts  from  insect  bites  and  the  sting 
of  nettles  and  were  torn  and  scratched  by  the  sharp 
vines;  and  I  was  throbbing  with  the  fever.  When 
darkness  came  again,  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  enter- 
prise was  all  a  wild  nightmare. 

Early  the  next  day  the  stampede  hit  us  without 
warning.  A  small  elephant,  straying  from  the  herd, 
saw  some  of  the  men  on  the  right;  he  ran  back, 
trumpeting  the  danger.  Then  the  bellowing  herd 
came  down  upon  us. 

AH  shoved  my  rifle  into  my  hands  and  I  jumped 
behind  a  tree.  The  Siamese  priest  stumbled  and  fell. 
Before  I  could  shoot,  a  big  bull  elephant  stepped 
on  him  and  tore  him  in  two,  throwing  the  upper 
portion  of  his  body  over  my  head.  I  was  spattered 
with  blood.  Elephants,  bellowing  furiously,  rushed 
past  us ;  men  screamed  and  scrambled  for  places  of 
safety.  The  immense  animals  loomed  up  in  the 
darkness  for  a  second  and  then  disappeared.  In 
their  excitement  some  collided  with  trees. 


66  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

There  was  no  need  to  shoot;  it  would  have  been 
like  holding  up  a  fan  to  fend  off  a  cyclone.  I  hug- 
ged my  tree,  keeping  my  gun  in  position.  I  was 
discouraged;  our  efforts  had  been  wasted  and  the 
herd  was  scattered.  That  would  be  a  fine  story  to 
take  back  to  the  Sultan. 

When  the  elephants  had  passed,  I  called  to  the 
men.  We  lighted  torches  and  searched  for  the 
injured.  Three  had  been  killed  and  twelve  hurt,  and 
I  was  thankful  there  weren't  more  casualties.  We 
buried  the  dead.  Ali  brought  up  my  medical  kit 
and  helped  me  dress  the  wounds. 

After  a  few  hours'  sleep,  I  found  that  I  wasn't 
quite  so  discouraged,  and  so  I  called  the  men  to- 
gether and  lectured  them  on  the  necessity  of  being 
careful.  They  showed  no  signs  of  mutiny,  and  so 
we  started  off  again  in  search  of  the  herd.  It  was 
not  difficult  to  find  them,  for  they  cut  a  swath  in 
the  jungle  to  the  point  where  they  stopped,  five  miles 
from  the  scene  of  the  stampede. 

Again  I  posted  guides  in  the  trees  and  spread 
out  the  drivers.  Every  man  was  alert,  and,  when 
night  ended,  we  were  considerably  nearer  the  trap. 
In  the  minds  of  the  elephants  there  seemed  to  be 
no  connection  between  the  noise  that  was  driving 
them  and  the  men  they  had  seen  the  night  before, 
and  they  went  ahead  peaceably. 

Leaving  scouts  to  watch  the  herd,  I  gathered 
the  men  together  and  praised  them.  Success  re- 
kindled the  enthusiasm  that  had  been  damped  by  the 


ELEPHANTS  67 

stampede,  and,  when  we  threw  ourselves  down  to 
snatch  a  few  hours'  sleep,  we  were  convinced  that 
the  drive  would  proceed  without  trouble.  The  scouts 
reported  that  the  herd  was  slightly  depleted,  but, 
even  so,  it  was  the  largest  herd  that  any  of  us 
had  ever  seen,  much  less  driven. 

At  nightfall,  each  day,  the  men  were  again  in 
position,  waiting  for  my  signal;  and,  three  nights 
later,  we  approached  the  stockade.  The  men  went 
wild  with  delight.  And  above  the  uproar,  I  could 
hear  the  calls  of  the  guides  in  the  trees,  telling  us 
our  distance  from  the  trap. 

The  big  beasts  jammed  in  the  runway  between 
the  wings,  heaving  and  struggling,  and  forcing 
those  ahead  of  them  into  the  trap.  The  walls  of  the 
wings  groaned  as  they  threw  their  bodies  against 
the  posts.  The  elephants  bellowed,  and  the  natives 
kept  up  a  continual  pandemonium.  I  mounted  the 
platform  and  looked  down ;  I  could  see  nothing  but 
a  tossing  flood  of  black  that  poured  slowly  from 
the  runway  into  the  trap. 

When  the  last  elephant  was  inside,  the  ropes  that 
held  the  gate  were  cut.  The  gate  crashed  down; 
bars  were  run  through  the  sockets;  the  elephants 
were  trapped. 

On  my  platform  I  shouted  as  loudly  as  any  of  the 
Malays.  Torches  were  lighted  and  the  men  began 
dancing.  I  slipped  to  the  ground  and  warned  them 
against  climbing  up  on  the  walls  of  the  stockade, 
for  I  was  fearful  that  the  sight  of  men  might  en- 


68  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

rage  the  elephants.  If  the  beasts  suddenly  took 
it  into  their  heads  to  charge  the  wall  in  a  body, 
some  of  the  posts  might  give  way.  I  could  hear 
them  milling  around  inside  the  trap,  bellowing  and 
tearing  up  the  jungle  in  an  effort  to  find  a  way  out. 
Through  the  remainder  of  the  night  the  natives 
danced,  ate  and  drank.  Then,  when  dawn  was 
beginning  to  light  up  the  sky,  I  climbed  to  the  plat- 
form again  and  looked  down  into  the  trap.  There 
were  sixty  elephants! 

The  men,  armed  with  long,  spiked  poles,  mounted 
to  the  running  platform  on  the  top  of  the  posts, 
and  the  celebration  was  renewed.  I  stood  there, 
breathless,  wondering  how  many  of  them,  in  their 
excitement,  would  fall  off  the  platform  into  the 
trap.  But  none  did  fall,  and  they  fended  off  the 
charges  of  the  elephants  by  sticking  them  in  the 
heads  and  bodies  with  their  spikes. 

Omar  immediately  sent  a  messenger  to  the  Sultan 
with  the  good  news,  and  the  word  passed  from  vil- 
lage to  village.  Natives  poured  in  to  inspect  the 
catch,  and  the  messenger  returned  with  the  news 
that  the  Sultan  was  on  his  way.  It  was  a  historic 
occasion  in  Trengganu.  The  Sultan  had  never  been 
in  the  interior  of  his  own  country  before,  and  never 
had  there  been  such  an  elephant  hunt  in  the  state. 
Omar  busied  himself  with  the  details  of  the  royal 
reception  while  I  cared  for  the  catch. 

We  cut  holes  in  the  rattan  webbing  between  the 
posts  and  enticed  the  small  elephants  to  come  out. 


'I  climbed  to  the  platform  and  looked  down  into  the  trap. 
There  were  sixty  elephants." 


ELEPHANTS  69 

There  were  several  babies  in  the  lot,  and  they  soon 
became  playful  and  affectionate.  Baby  elephants 
are  just  three  feet  high  at  birth  and  weigh  about 
two  hundred  pounds.  They  grow  an  inch  each 
month.  We  made  pets  of  them  and  amused  our- 
selves with  weaning  them.  We  did  this  by  taking  a 
pail  of  warm  milk  and  dipping  the  babies'  trunks 
into  it,  then  doubling  the  trunks  up  and  putting 
them  into  their  owners'  mouths,  and  finally  squirt- 
ing milk  in  with  a  squirt  gun.  The  babies  soon 
learned  to  imitate  this  procedure.  They  were  mis- 
chievous little  animals,  full  of  fun  and  inquisitive- 
ness.  Hour  after  hour,  I  played  with  them  and 
laughed  until  I  ached. 

The  Sultan  arrived  with  his  retinue,  and  we  gave 
him  a  ceremonial  greeting.  Deputations  from  all 
the  villages  were  present,  and  Omar  requisitioned 
food  for  a  great  feast.  The  Sultan  had  little  to 
say  about  the  elephants  until  I  took  him  up  on  the 
platform  where  he  could  count  them  for  himself. 
For  a  minute  he  looked  at  them,  wide-eyed;  then 
he  repeated,  "Sir,  you  spoke  the  truth." 

"I  always  speak  the  truth,"  I  replied,  and  I  could 
see  by  his  expression  that  he  believed  me.  He  was 
convinced  that  I  was  honest.  I  knew  that  I  had  his 
protection  for  any  expeditions  I  might  undertake 
in  Trengganu.  His  friendship  had  been  difficult 
to  win,  but  it  was  worth  the  trouble — quite  aside 
from  the  value  of  the  elephants.  Trengganu  was 
virgin  country,  filled  with  animals  that  my  custo- 


70  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

mers  wanted  to  buy,  and  I  had  the  exclusive  privi- 
lege— so  far  as  foreigners  were  concerned — of 
hunting  there.  And,  since  the  Sultan  received  a 
bonus  on  the  animals  captured,  he  provided  me  with 
labor. 

The  Sultan  remained  several  days  and  we  spent 
much  of  our  time  in  talking  over  the  problems  of 
government.  These  conversations  ended  by  my  be- 
coming a  sort  of  foreign  adviser  in  all  dealings  with 
European  countries.  Later,  before  Trengganu  was 
made  a  British  protectorate,  he  awarded  me  some 
valuable  tin  concessions.  The  new  arrangement 
under  the  British  government  was  made  satisfac- 
torily ;  he  received  a  suitable  pension  and  he  passed 
happily  into  a  purely  honorary  position  in  his  state, 
relieved  of  all  the  complexities  of  political  admin- 
istration. When  I  last  saw  him,  he  was  living  in 
indolent  comfort,  surrounded  by  his  wives — and  his 
two-story  brick  palace  was  at  last  completed. 

It  took  more  than  a  week  after  the  departure  of 
the  Sultan  of  Trengganu  for  the  natives  to  get 
their  fill  of  celebration.  While  they  feasted  and 
danced,  I  made  my  plans  for  the  stocks  in  which  the 
sixty  elephants  were  to  be  broken. 

The  breaking  of  elephants,  especially  so  large  a 
herd,  is  a  long,  tedious  job.  I  was  thankful  that  I 
had  Prince  Omar  with  me  to  keep  the  natives  work- 
ing. The  hunter,  who  kills  and  skins  his  animals, 
has  a  simple  life  compared  with  the  collector,  who 
must  not  only  take  the  animals  alive  and  uninjured, 


ELEPHANTS  71 

but  convey  them  through  miles  of  jungle  country  to 
a  port.  Months  of  hard  labor  were  before  us,  and 
the  success  of  the  expedition  was  by  no  means  as- 
sured, even  though  we  had  our  elephants  safe  in 
the  stockade.  It  was  to  be  a  great  test  in  managing 
the  natives. 

There  is  only  one  thing  that  a  Malay  values,  and 
that  is  his  kris — his  knife.  To  lose  this  cherished  pos- 
session means  to  lose  honor.  There  is  a  saying  to 
the  effect  that  money  will  buy  everything  but  a 
lucky  kris.  Their  disregard  of  money  makes  all 
dealings  with  Malays  extremely  difficult,  and  their 
dislike  for  work  has  completely  blocked  more  than 
one  project.  To  my  mind,  the  Malays  are  the  laziest 
people  in  the  world. 

When  work  is  an  exciting  or  amusing  game,  such 
as  the  hunt,  they  will  go  on  for  days  without  signs 
of  fatigue.  They  seem  to  keep  alive  by  some  fanatic 
energy.  But  when  work  is  just  plain  labor,  they 
will  say  "Wait,"  or  "I  must  think."  Or  a  Malay 
may  say  candidly:  "Sir,  I  have  just  had  plenty  to 
eat.  I  am  content."  Many  times  I  have  had  a 
Malay  tell  me,  when  I  asked  him  to  do  some  work, 
that  he  had  enough  rice  and  fish  for  the  day  and 
that  he  might  die  during  the  night.  It  is  an  unan- 
swerable argument.  Tomorrow's  food  can  be  found 
when  tomorrow  comes. 

The  Malay's  food  is  simple  and  his  clothes  are 
few.  With  no  more  effort  than  dropping  a  few 
seeds  and  covering  them  with  earth,  he  can  grow 


72  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

most  of  the  food  he  needs,  aside  from  his  rice  and 
fish.  One  catch  of  fish  will  supply  his  family  for 
weeks  and  give  him  a  surplus  to  sell  to  the  Chinese 
traders.  With  the  money  he  can  buy  some  cloth 
and  a  little  powder.  Six  or  seven  good-sized  chick- 
ens cost  one  Mexican  dollar ;  eggs  cost  one  Mexican 
cent;  yams,  one  or  two  cents  each;  pineapples,  two 
or  three  cents.  Why  worry  about  the  tomorrow 
that  may  never  come  ?  Why  should  a  Malay  gentle- 
man, who  believes  in  Allah  and  whose  stomach  is 
full,  do  the  labor  that  can  be  done  by  heathen,  pig- 
eating  Chinese? 

"Will  you  row  me  across  the  river?"  I  asked  a 
Malay  one  day. 

"Tuan,  I  have  eaten  and  I  have  had  plenty,"  he 
responded.  "You  may  take  my  boat  and  row  your- 
self across  the  river.  Tomorrow,  if  Allah  grants 
me  life  and  if  I  need  the  boat,  I  will  swim  over  for 
it." 

That  Malay  trait  of  living  for  the  moment  has 
led  many  a  European  to  murder,  and  more  than 
once  it  made  me  feel  like  running  amok.  It  is  mad- 
dening. Getting  work  out  of  Malays  is  a  fine  art, 
a  science  to  be  learned  only  after  years  of  patient 
arguing  and  cajoling.  And  yet,  with  all  their  lazi- 
ness, they  are  lovable  people.  In  most  cases  they 
are  brave  and  willing  to  do  anything  for  a  person 
they  like. 

Under  the  circumstances,  sick  with  fever  and 
worn  out  by  the  drive  through  the  jungle,  I  was  en- 


ELEPHANTS  73 

titled  to  some  doubt  as  to  what  the  next  few  months 
would  bring.  The  Sultan  had  left  strict  orders 
that  I  was  to  be  provided  with  all  the  labor  I  needed, 
and  Omar  was  there  to  assist  me.  However,  I 
waited  with  anxiety  to  see  what  the  attitude  of  the 
natives  would  be  after  they  had  finished  celebrating, 
and  I  was  encouraged  to  find  that  I  had  earned  the 
name  Tuan  Gdjah — Sir  Elephant.  They  were  deep- 
ly impressed  by  the  power  of  the  white  man  who 
had  engineered  a  great  drive  of  sixty  elephants 
and  who  owned  the  exceedingly  marvelous  gun 
that  his  man,  AH,  displayed  with  such  proud  osten- 
tation. 

Inasmuch  as  they  were  receiving  no  money  for 
their  work,  they  had  some  right  to  object,  but  I  hu- 
mored them  with  promises  of  celebrations  and 
games.  The  white  man's  camp  became  a  popular 
place  in  Trengganu.  Wonderful  tales  of  what  was 
done  there  spread  through  the  country,  and  the  men 
who  had  been  to  the  camp  could  command  an  audi- 
ence in  their  home  compounds  when  they  returned. 
The  elephant  drive  was  a  historic  event  in  the  coun- 
try, and  henceforth  we  had  little  trouble  with  labor. 

The  work  of  breaking  wild  elephants  must  be 
carried  on  with  painstaking  exactness,  for  one  ele- 
phant can  create  havoc  in  a  few  seconds  if  the  men 
lose  control.  The  first  task  is  the  building  of  the 
stocks  where  the  elephants  are  to  be  held  while  they 
become  acustomed  to  men ;  then  comes  the  work  of 
driving  into  the  ground,  about  four  feet  apart,  two 


74  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

rows  of  heavy  stakes,  leading  from  the  trap  to  the 
stocks.  Also,  next  the  trap,  a  small  enclosure,  four 
or  five  feet  wide  by  fifteen  long,  is  built  at  the  end 
of  the  passageway  formed  by  the  stakes.  The  piles 
of  the  trap  are  removed  from  the  entrance  to  this 
enclosure  and  bars  are  substituted.  Since  the  ele- 
phants were  given  practically  no  food  during  the 
time  they  were  kept  in  the  trap,  they  were  half 
starved  when  the  breaking  commenced.  In  their 
weakened  condition  they  were  much  less  dangerous 
to  handle,  and,  too,  they  could  then  be  fed  in  such 
a  way  as  to  impress  upon  them  the  fact  that  good 
behavior  brings  good  treatment. 

The  young  elephants  required  no  breaking,  and 
so  they  were  lured  from  the  trap  with  food.  They 
roamed  about  the  camp,  playing  and  watching  op- 
erations. 

As  soon  as  the  tuskers  were  taken  from  the  trap, 
they  were  killed  for  their  ivory.  The  tusks  were 
worth  almost  as  much  as  I  could  get  for  the  live 
animals,  and  tusks  are  far  easier  to  handle  than 
animals  that  have  to  be  broken  and  fed.  Also,  as 
the  animal  dealers  say,  the  elephant  might  "eat  and 
die."  I  did  the  killing  with  my  express  rifle.  The 
explosive  bullets  produced  instant  death.  Another 
way  of  killing  an  elephant  is  to  strangle  him  by 
running  two  ropes  around  his  neck  and  having 
elephants  pull  him  in  opposite  directions. 

As  soon  as  all  the  equipment  for  breaking  was 
ready,  I  instructed  the  natives  in  their  work.  With 


ELEPHANTS  75 

a  select  crew  of  men,  I  rehearsed  all  the  details  of 
what  we  were  going  to  do  and  how  we  were  going 
to  do  it.  Finally,  I  ordered  food  placed  in  the  en- 
closure and  the  bars  drawn.  The  nearest  elephant 
saw  the  food,  sniffed,  flapped  his  ears  and  walked 
in.  Breaking  commenced. 

As  soon  as  the  elephant  enters  the  small  enclosure, 
the  bars  behind  him  are  slipped.  He  eats  the  food 
so  eagerly  that  he  does  not  realize  quite  what  is 
happening  and  the  men  put  the  knee-  and  foot- 
hobbles  on  him.  These  allow  him  about  one  quarter 
of  his  normal  step.  Rattan  ropes  are  fastened  to 
his  feet  and  drawn  out  through  the  bars ;  his  trunk 
is  secured  so  that  he  can  do  no  damage  with  it. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  misunderstanding  about 
what  an  elephant  can  do  with  his  trunk.  It  is  a 
sensitive  organ  and  he  never  uses  it  for  heavy  labor, 
but  he  can  strike  a  terrific  blow  with  it.  I  have  seen 
many  a  man's  ribs  and  arms  broken  when  he  ne- 
glected to  take  the  proper  precautions.  In  approach- 
ing a  dangerous  elephant,  a  man  should  come  up 
sideways,  with  the  nearer  arm  folded  to  protect 
the  ribs.  Then,  if  the  elephant  strikes,  he  should 
try  to  catch  the  blow  on  the  upper  part  of  the  arm, 
where  there  is  the  most  flesh  to  protect  the  bone. 
Such  a  blow  never  knocks  a  man  flat ;  it  sends  him 
spinning  like  a  top  until  he  tumbles  over. 

The  elephant  uses  both  his  trunk  and  his  lungs  in 
calling,  and  he  has  a  large  variety  of  sounds  and 
combinations  of  sound  with  which  to  express  him- 


76  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

self.  When  rushing  an  enemy,  he  trumpets  shrilly; 
when  enraged  by  wounds,  he  grumbles  hoarsely 
from  his  throat ;  he  expresses  fear  by  a  shrill,  brassy 
trumpet  and  a  roar;  and  pleasure  by  a  continued 
low  squeaking  through  the  trunk.  When  apprehen- 
sive of  danger  or  when  attempting  to  intimidate 
an  enemy,  he  raps  the  end  of  his  trunk  smartly  on 
the  ground  and  trumpets.  The  peculiar  noise  sounds 
like  that  produced  by  the  rolling  up  of  a  sheet  of  tin. 

In  a  moment  of  danger,  the  elephant  coils  his 
trunk  to  protect  it  from  injury.  When  he  is  en- 
gaged in  heavy  work,  such  as  piling  lumber,  he  may 
use  his  trunk  to  balance  the  load  he  is  carrying  on 
his  tusks,  but  never  to  bear  part  of  the  burden.  If 
an  unharnessed  elephant  must  pull  a  rope,  he  holds 
it  in  his  mouth,  taking  good  care  to  keep  his  trunk 
out  of  the  way.  It  has  happened  many  times  that 
an  elephant-keeper — not  a  trainer,  for  a  trainer 
knows  better — has  used  a  hook  a  little  too  freely  on 
an  elephant's  trunk.  If  he  doesn't  get  killed,  he 
picks  himself  up  several  yards  from  where  he  was 
standing.  A  trainer  is  invariably  pleased  at  such 
an  occurrence,  because  it  shows  that  the  keeper  was 
abusing  the  elephant  and  has  merely  received  his 
deserts.  The  elephant  is  a  good,  faithful  animal, 
and  he  does  not  attack  his  keeper  without  excuse, 
except  when  he  is  in  what  is  called  the  "must" 
period,  which  I  shall  describe  later. 

When  the  elephant  is  secured  by  hobbles,  foot- 
ropes  and  trunk-ropes,  the  bars  leading  from  the 


ELEPHANTS  77 

enclosure  are  removed.  The  foot-ropes  have  been 
fastened  to  the  stakes  and  are  loosened  as  the  ele- 
phant walks  out.  The  men  holding  the  ropes  at- 
tached to  the  fore  feet  wind  them  around  the  two 
stakes  ahead,  and  those  holding  the  ropes  attached 
to  the  hind  feet  wind  them  about  the  first  stakes.  In 
this  way  the  animal  is  drawn  forward,  step  by  step, 
toward  the  stocks,  while  natives  prod  him  from  be- 
hind with  poles.  If  he  tries  to  bolt,  he  simply  falls 
over.  It  is  a  difficult,  trying  job,  because  the  ele- 
phant is  still  vicious. 

The  stocks  are  built  in  covered  stalls,  so  that  each 
elephant  is  separate  from  the  others.  Two  large 
uprights  are  driven  into  the  ground  in  the  shape 
of  a  V ;  the  elephant's  head  is  drawn  between  them, 
and  they  are  pulled  together  at  the  top  so  that  he 
is  held  securely  behind  the  ears.  At  the  corners 
are  uprights,  with  poles  to  fence  him  in,  running 
between  them.  These  poles,  located  a  trifle  below 
his  belly,  support  two  cross-bars,  one  just  behind  his 
fore  legs,  and  the  other  in  front  of  his  back  legs.  In 
this  position  it  is  impossible  for  the  elephant  to  lie 
down  or  to  move ;  he  can  wiggle  his  legs  and  wave 
his  trunk,  but  that  is  all. 

The  elephant  remains  in  the  stocks  for  about  two 
weeks.  During  that  time  he  is  fed  and  petted  by  a 
keeper  appointed  for  that  particular  job.  The  keep- 
er crawls  over  his  back  and  rubs  him  behind  the 
ears  and  gives  him  water,  fruit  and  bamboo  shoots. 
The  elephant  learns  not  to  be  afraid  when  a  man  is 


78  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

near  him,  and  he  gradually  becomes  more  docile. 
During  these  two  weeks  he  is  fed  very  lightly  be- 
cause he  must  be  kept  in  a  weakened  condition. 

After  two  or  three  weeks,  according  to  the  dis- 
position of  the  elephant,  ropes  are  again  attached  to 
his  feet,  and  he  is  led  out  of  the  stocks.  This  time 
he  wears  only  the  knee-hobbles,  which  allow  him 
more  play.  Eight  or  ten  men  hold  each  of  the  ropes ; 
his  keeper  sits  on  his  head  with  a  prod;  another 
crew  hold  the  rope  attached  to  his  trunk;  and  six 
or  eight  men  follow  with  rattan  whips.  The  men 
with  the  whips  beat  him  continually.  At  first,  in  the 
excitement,  he  does  not  mind  the  whipping;  then 
he  finds  the  pain  unbearable.  The  men  on  the  trunk- 
ropes  lead  him  about  from  right  to  left,  while  the 
men  on  the  foot-ropes  stand  ready  to  trip  him  if 
he  tries  to  bolt.  At  last  he  gives  a  bellow  of  pain 
and  the  whipping  stops. 

This  one  bellow  marks  a  surprising  change  in  the 
animal.  His  spirit  is  broken  and  he  acknowledges 
that  man  is  his  master.  The  fact  that  he  is  instantly 
fed  and  petted  helps  him  to  make  up  his  mind,  of 
course,  and  to  forget  about  the  old,  wild  ways  of 
the  jungle.  Thereafter,  a  keeper  who  does  not 
deliberately  make  him  angry  can  handle  him  easily. 
His  schooling  is  brief  and  he  learns  readily  to  turn, 
kneel,  back  and  pull.  In  return  he  is  given  plenty 
of  food  and  is  tied  to  a  tree  instead  of  being  put  in 
the  stocks. 

It  occasionally  happened  that  an  elephant  refused 


ELEPHANTS  79 

to  bellow.  In  that  case,  I  had  the  men  lead  him  out 
to  be  shot,  for  I  knew  I  should  be  wasting  time  in 
trying  to  break  him. 

The  opinion  is  generally  held  by  those  who  have 
had  the  best  opportunities  of  observing  the  elephant, 
that  the  popular  estimate  of  its  intelligence  is  a 
greatly  exaggerated  one;  that  instead  of  being  the 
exceptionally  wise  animal  it  is  believed  to  be,  its 
sagacity  is  of  a  very  mediocre  description.  Of  the 
truth  of  this  opinion  no  one  who  has  lived  amongst 
elephants  can  entertain  a  doubt. 

The  elephant's  size  and  staid  appearance,  its 
gentleness,  and  the  ease  with  which  it  performs 
various  services  with  its  trunk,  have  probably  given 
rise  to  the  exalted  idea  of  its  intellect.  Amongst 
those  not  intimately  acquainted  with  it,  and  it  being 
but  little  known  outside  of  its  native  countries,  what 
is  known  of  it  justly  make  it  a  general  favorite  and 
leads  to  tales  of  intelligence  being  not  only  accepted 
without  investigation,  but  welcomed  with  pleasure. 

One  of  the  strongest  features  in  the  domesticated 
elephant's  character,  is  its  obedience.  It  is  also  read- 
ily taught,  but  its  reasoning  faculties  are  far  below 
those  of  a  dog,  and  possibly  other  animals,  and  in 
matters  beyond  the  range  of  its  daily  experience,  it 
evinces  no  special  discernment ;  while  quick  at  com- 
prehending anything  taught  to  it,  it  is  decidedly 
wanting  in  originality. 

Let  us  consider  whether  the  elephant  displays 
more  intelligence  in  its  wild  state  than  other  ani- 


80  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

mals.  Though  possessed  of  a  proboscis,  which  is 
capable  of  guarding  it  against  such  dangers,  it  read- 
ily falls  into  a  pit  dug  for  catching  it,  only  covered 
with  a  few  sticks  and  leaves.  Its  fellows  make  no 
effort  to  assist  the  fallen  one,  as  they  might  easily 
do  by  kicking  in  the  earth  around  the  pit,  but  they 
flee  in  terror. 

It  commonly  happens  that  a  young  elephant  falls 
into  a  pit  near  which  the  mother  will  remain  until 
the  hunter  comes,  without  doing  anything  to  assist 
it,  not  even  feeding  it  by  throwing  in  a  few  branches. 
This,  no  doubt,  is  more  difficult  of  belief  to  most 
people  than  if  they  were  told  that  the  mother  sup- 
plied it  with  grass,  brought  water  in  her  trunk,  or 
filled  up  the  pit  with  trees  and  effected  the  young 
one's  release. 

Whole  herds  of  elephants  are  driven  into  ill  con- 
cealed enclosures  which  no  other  wild  animal  could 
be  got  to  enter,  and  single  ones  are  caught  by  their 
legs  being  tied  together  by  men  under  cover  of  a 
couple  of  tame  elephants.  Elephants  which  happen 
to  effect  their  escape  are  caught  again  without  trou- 
ble. Even  experience  does  not  bring  wisdom. 

These  facts  are  certainly  against  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  elephant  is  an  extraordinarily  shrewd 
animal,  much  less  one  possessed  of  the  power  of  rea- 
soning in  the  abstract,  with  which  he  is  commonly 
credited.  I  do  not  think  I  traduce  the  elephant,  when 
I  say  it  is  in  many  things  a  stupid  animal,  and  I  can 
assert  with  confidence  that  all  the  stories  I  have 


ELEPHANTS  81 

heard  of  it,  except  those  relating  to  feats  of  strength 
or  docility  performed  under  its  trainer's  or  keeper's 
direction,  are  beyond  its  intellectual  power  and  are 
but  pleasant  fiction. 

It  often  happens  that  persons  who  do  not  under- 
stand elephants  give  them  credit  for  performing 
actions  which  are  suggested  to  them,  and  in  which 
they  are  directed  by  their  trainer  or  by  the  mahout 
on  their  necks.  I  think  that  all  who  have  had  to  deal 
with  elephants,  will  agree  in  saying  that  their  good 
qualities  cannot  be  exaggerated  and  that  their  vices 
are  few,  and  only  occur  in  exceptional  animals.  The 
not  uncommon  idea  that  elephants  are  treacherous 
and  retentive  of  injury,  is  a  groundless  one. 

Elephants  do  not  push  with  their  foreheads  or 
the  region  above  their  eyes,  but  with  the  base  of  the 
trunk  or  snout,  about  one  foot  below  the  eyes. 
Elephants  are  poor  sighted,  and  are  so  intent  on 
being  off  when  thoroughly  started,  that  I  have  been 
almost  brushed  against  without  being  discovered. 

The  rapidly  advancing  line  of  huge  heads  and 
cocked  ears  bobbing  up  and  down  as  the  elephants 
come  rushing  on,  leveling  everything  before  them, 
is  a  trying  sight,  and  at  first  one  requires  some 
nerve — and  the  reflection  they  are  escaping,  not 
charging — to  stand  still. 

If  circumstances  ever  occur  to  make  a  run  un- 
avoidable, the  pursued  hunter  should  always  take 
down  hill  and  choose  the  steepest  place  at  hand,  as 
the  elephants  fear  to  trust  themselves  on  a  rapid 


82  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

descent  at  any  great  pace;  uphill,  or  on  the  level, 
man  would  be  immediately  overtaken.  When 
elephants  are  close  at  hand,  standing  in  indecision, 
no  one  should  shout  to  turn  them ;  a  charge  by  one 
or  more  of  them  is  sure  to  be  made  if  they  are  sud- 
denly started  at  this  time. 

Eight  months  passed  at  breaking  elephants.  I 
was  sick  with  fever  and  dysentery  and  I  was  glad 
when  we  could  break  camp.  Riding  on  the  head  of 
an  elephant,  I  led  my  catch  through  the  jungle  to 
port.  Once  again  I  paid  my  respects  to  the  Sultan, 
who  told  me  that  I  might  hunt  in  Trengganu  when- 
ever I  pleased.  A  year  before,  I  should  have  been 
wildly  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  having  Treng- 
ganu open  to  me  under  his  protection,  but  now,  with 
my  health  broken,  I  did  not  care  much  if  I  never 
saw  the  country  again. 

I  arranged  for  the  keeping  of  the  animals  until 
they  could  be  brought  by  boat  to  Singapore,  and  then 
I  caught  the  first  coast  steamer  south,  taking  four 
elephants  with  me.  At  Singapore  I  found  that  the 
story  of  the  big  capture  had  been  the  talk  of  the  city 
for  months.  In  fact,  several  days  after  I  arrived, 
I  went  to  call  on  my  former  enemy,  Mahommed 
Ariff,  and  he  took  off  his  turban  and  bowed.  We 
had  many  dealings  after  that,  and  he  always  treated 
me  with  the  greatest  respect  and  honesty. 

When  I  was  leading  one  of  the  smaller  elephants 
through  the  street  on  my  way  to  the  animal  house 


ELEPHANTS  83 

I  had  rented  in  Orchard  Road,  I  was  approached  by 
an  Arab. 

"Tuan  man  jualf  (Sir,  do  you  wish  to  sell?)" 
he  asked. 

"Of  course,"  I  answered.  I  was  sick  and  tired 
and  I  did  not  want  to  be  bothered. 

He  persisted.    "Tuan,  how  much  ?" 

"All  of  them  or  just  one?" 

"That  one,"  he  answered,  pointing  to  the  elephant 
I  was  leading. 

I  thought  he  was  asking  just  out  of  curiosity,  and 
so  I  set  a  price  that  I  thought  would  silence  him — 
$3,000  Mexican. 

"Tuan,  truly  will  you  sell  it  for  that?" 

"Yes." 

He  followed  me  to  the  animal  house,  and  I  won- 
dered what  he  had  on  his  mind.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
I  would  have  sold  the  elephant  for  $450,  because  it 
was  young  and  small.  At  the  animal  house,  he 
again  asked  me  if  I  would  sell  for  $3,000;  then  he 
undid  several  of  the  shirts  he  was  wearing  and 
pulled  forth  an  old  wallet.  He  gave  me  $500  to 
bind  the  bargain  and  called  a  friend  of  his  to  act 
as  witness.  When  he  left  to  get  the  rest  of  the 
money,  I  went  to  the  stall  where  I  had  placed  the 
animal  and  examined  it. 

It  didn't  take  me  long  to  discover  why  the  Arab 
was  willing  to  pay  $3,000.  The  little  elephant  had 
twenty  toes  instead  of  the  usual  eighteen.  Twenty- 
toed  elephants  are  held  in  veneration  throughout 


84  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

India,  and  are  keenly  sought  by  all  the  rajas  and 
maharajas  for  the  prosperity  they  are  supposed 
to  bring.  They  are  guarded  more  carefully  and 
quartered  even  more  sumptuously  than  the  white 
elephants  of  Siam,  and  the  price  they  will  bring  is 
determined  almost  entirely  by  the  amount  the  rajas 
can  gather  together.  My  little  twenty-toed  ele- 
phant was  a  faultless  specimen.  He  was  about  five 
years  old  and  stood  four  and  a  half  feet  high.  His 
head  was  perfectly  shaped;  his  back  was  straight 
and  absolutely  even  with  the  top  of  his  head. 

I  was  naturally  disgusted  to  think  that  I  had  let 
such  a  bargain  slip  out  of  my  hands,  and,  when  the 
Arab  returned,  I  blamed  him  for  cheating  me  when 
I  was  sick  with  the  fever.  I  abused  him  and  his 
ancestors  and  gave  a  great  show  of  indignation. 
He  begged  me  to  take  the  money  and  give  him  the 
elephant;  I  refused  the  money  and  told  him  to  take 
the  elephant  out  of  my  sight. 

"I  have  put  a  curse  on  him,"  I  said.  "He  will  be 
dead  within  twenty-four  hours." 

At  this  he  burst  into  tears,  begging  me  to  remove 
the  curse.  He  said  that  he  was  a  poor  man  and 
that  the  elephant's  death  would  ruin  him.  Finally 
we  reached  a  compromise.  He  would  pay  me  an 
extra  $500,  and  I  would  arrange  transportation  to 
India  for  the  elephant.  Then,  if  the  sale  proved 
profitable,  he  was  to  return  to  Singapore  and  pay 
me  an  additional  $500.  He  swore  by  Allah  and  the 
Prophet  that  he  would  keep  his  word.  So  I  re- 


ELEPHANTS  85 

moved  the  curse  and  took  his  money  and  he  de- 
parted happily.  A  month  later  he  returned  and  paid 
me  the  $500.  He  had  sold  the  elephant  to  the  Ma- 
haraja of  Mysore  for  10,000  rupees.  The  Arab 
later  bought  four  large  elephants  from  me. 

During  my  nineteen  years  in  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago I  captured  hundreds  of  elephants,  but  none 
of  the  herds  was  so  large  as  my  first  catch.  And, 
though  I  always  looked  carefully  at  the  elephant's 
feet  before  I  sold  him,  never  again  did  I  bag  one 
with  twenty  toes. 

Of  all  the  animals  I  have  handled  in  my  experi- 
ence as  a  collector,  I  prefer  elephants.  They  are 
interesting  and  amusing  beasts,  and,  once  broken, 
they  become  hard-working  and  affectionate.  They 
never  show  any  inclination  to  go  back  to  the  jungle, 
even  when  used  for  the  purposes  of  running  wild 
elephants.  In  Siam  all  the  driving  of  herds  into 
the  traps  is  done  on  female  elephants,  and  their 
presence  calms  the  herd.  I  have  seen  the  tame  ele- 
phants press  in  upon  a  wild  elephant,  holding  him 
while  he  docilely  allowed  himself  to  be  hobbled. 

The  hunts  in  Siam  are  for  tuskers,  and  the  fe- 
males are  for  the  most  part  allowed  to  run  free 
again  to  breed.  The  tuskers  are  used  in  the  teak 
forests  for  handling  logs.  The  females  bear  young 
about  every  three  years  until  they  reach  an  age  of 
from  seventy  to  seventy-five  years.  The  period  of 
carrying  varies  from  eighteen  months  in  the  case 
of  a  female  baby  to  twenty-one  months  in  the  case 


86  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

of  a  male.  A  baby  elephant,  as  I  have  already 
written,  weighs  approximately  two  hundred  pounds 
at  birth  and  stands  thirty-six  inches  high.  It  suckles 
from  six  to  nine  months.  The  breasts  of  the  female 
are  located  just  back  of  the  fore  legs,  and  the  baby 
runs  its  trunk  up  along  its  mother's  side  while  nurs- 
ing. Its  next  food  is  fruit  and  the  tenderest  bam- 
boo shoots.  It  is  very  fond  of  sugar.  It  grows  at 
the  rate  of  one  inch  a  month  up  to  its  third  year 
and  attains  its  full  growth,  but  not  maturity,  at 
about  twenty-five.  The  age  of  an  elephant  is  told 
largely  by  the  ears ;  an  old  animal  has  ragged  ears 
and  sunken  cheeks.  The  height  of  an  elephant  is 
almost  exactly  twice  the  distance  around  its  foot. 

A  herd  of  elephants  is  invariably  led  by  the  fe- 
males, perhaps  because  they  are  the  more  alert  to 
catch  the  least  sign  of  danger.  If  the  herd  is  put 
to  flight,  the  males  take  the  lead,  breaking  through 
the  jungle  and  making  a  trail  for  the  females  and 
young.  An  elephant  never  goes  around  things ;  he 
either  pushes  them  to  one  side  or  goes  straight 
through.  He  is  very  sure-footed  and,  on  anything 
that  looks  doubtful,  he  will  never  step  without  first 
putting  out  a  foot  and  trying  it.  For  that  reason, 
it  requires  some  skill  to  build  a  pit-trap  that  will 
not  attract  attention.  A  pit-trap  is  practically  use- 
less, however,  because  the  elephant  is  invariably 
injured  in  the  fall ;  it  allows  the  capture  of  the  baby, 
in  the  case  of  females,  but  at  the  cost  of  the  good, 
full-grown  animal.  Wild  elephants,  grazing  in  a 


ELEPHANTS  87 

herd,  travel  rapidly  If  they  are  frightened,  but 
usually  they  saunter  along,  sleeping  during  the  day 
and  feeding  at  night.  Their  food  consists  chiefly 
of  grasses,  bamboo  shoots,  cocoanuts  and  the  bark 
of  some  trees.  Lone  elephants  and  outcasts  from 
the  herd  are  dangerous  animals  and  should  be 
killed. 

There  comes  a  period,  known  as  "must,"  when 
even  the  most  reliable  elephant  becomes  a  danger- 
ous animal.  Like  the  Malay  he  "sees  red"  and  runs 
amok.  A  good  elephant  keeper  can  detect  the  mad- 
ness several  days  before  it  reaches  the  dangerous 
stage,  and  by  securing  the  animal  with  hobbles,  can 
prevent  trouble.  In  the  cheeks  of  the  elephant  are 
two  small  holes,  called  "errors,"  and  from  these 
holes  oozes  a  slight  secretion.  One  of  the  keeper's 
duties  each  day  is  to  examine  the  holes  and  run  a 
piece  of  straw  into  them.  If  there  is  an  odor  of 
musk  about  the  straw  when  he  pulls  it  out,  it  is  an 
indication  that  the  "must"  period  is  coming.  Some- 
times the  keeper  fails  to  make  this  test,  and  the 
elephant  runs  amok,  killing  people  and  leaving  a 
trail  of  wreckage  behind  him. 

On  one  of  my  visits  to  Sydney  with  a  consign- 
ment of  animals  for  the  Zoological  Gardens,  I  found 
the  entire  crew  of  elephant  keepers  busy  with  the 
task  of  trying  to  control  an  animal  that  was  in 
"must."  His  keeper  had  failed  to  make  the  test, 
and  the  elephant  had  suddenly  gone  mad.  Fortu- 
natelv  he  was  in  his  stall  at  the  time.  When  I  ar- 


88  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

rived,  he  had  wrecked  the  stall,  and  the  keepers 
were  afraid  that  he  might  get  loose.  Another  stall 
had  been  arranged,  but  they  could  figure  out  no 
way  of  changing  him  to  it.  The  men  were  thor- 
oughly frightened  and  absolutely  refused  to  risk 
hobbling  him.  The  director  of  the  Gardens  offered 
me  £100  if  I  would  do  it,  and,  since  I  had  Ali  and 
several  of  my  own  men  with  me,  I  agreed  to  try. 

With  elephant  hooks  strapped  to  our  wrists,  we 
entered  the  stall.  The  elephant  stood  looking  at  us, 
apparently  wondering  which  one  he  should  knock 
down  first.  I  told  Ali  to  get  behind  him  while  I 
approached  from  the  front. 

I  went  up  to  him  sideways,  speaking  to  him  and 
offering  him  food.  He  waited  quietly  until  I  was 
near  enough;  then,  before  I  could  duck,  he  hit  me 
with  his  trunk.  I  felt  myself  spinning  so  rapidly 
that  the  elephant,  my  men  and  the  stall  were  all  a 
blur;  and  I  came  up  against  the  wall  with  a  thud. 
Fortunately,  there  was  a  gutter  running  along  the 
wall,  and  I  dropped  into  it  just  as  the  elephant 
lunged  forward  at  me.  His  big  head  hit  the  wall 
and  the  floor  but  couldn't  get  at  me.  He  would 
not  risk  his  trunk,  because  he  realized  that  I  would 
jab  him  with  the  hook. 

Ali  and  the  other  men  were  at  his  tail,  jabbing 
him  and  pulling.  When  he  turned  for  them,  I 
jumped  up  and  began  running  my  hook  into  his  side. 
It  became  a  game  of  jabbing  and  dodging  and  wor- 
rying him  to  first  one  side  and  then  the  other.  I 


-    / 


"I  felt  myself  spinning  so  rapidly  that  the  elephant,  my  men  and  the  stall 
were  all  a  blur ;  and  I  came  up  against  the  wall  with  a  thud.  Fortunately, 
there  was  a  gutter  running  along  the  wall,  and  I  dropped  into  it  just  as  the 
elephant  lunged  forward  at  me." 


ELEPHANTS  89 

took  care  to  thrust  my  hook  always  in  the  same  spot, 
tearing  a  raw  wound  in  his  side,  while  the  other 
men  caught  him  on  the  legs  and  on  the  trunk.  We 
had  to  work  fast  to  keep  away  from  the  big  trunk 
as  it  cut  through  the  air,  and  his  feet,  when  he 
kicked.  Each  of  us  was  sent  sprawling  several 
times  before  the  fight  was  over. 

At  last  I  could  see  that  the  elephant  was  paying 
more  attention  to  the  wound  I  was  making  than  to 
anything  else  we  were  doing;  he  favored  the  hurt 
side  and  tried  to  shield  it.  Then,  with  a  bellow,  he 
knelt  down  and  dropped  on  his  side  to  cover  the 
wound. 

While  I  kept  him  down,  Ali  arranged  the  hob- 
bles ;  then  we  petted  him  and  allowed  him  to  stand. 
He  got  to  his  feet  doubtfully,  as  if  he  weren't  sure 
that  we  were  not  playing  a  trick  on  him — urging 
him  to  stand  up  so  that  we  could  jab  him  again. 
The  wound  I  had  torn  in  his  side  was  large  enough 
for  two  fists,  and  it  must  have  pained  him  terribly. 
He  was  worn  out  by  the  fight  and  he  hobbled  off 
to  his  new  stall,  much  subdued.  Several  days  later 
he  came  out  of  the  "must"  period,  which  rarely 
lasts  for  more  than  a  week,  and  became  again  the 
docile  elephant  that  took  children  on  his  back  for  a 
ride. 

I  went  to  see  him  several  times  before  I  returned 
to  Singapore,  and,  when  I  entered  the  stall,  he  edged 
away  from  me,  protecting  his  side.  Years  later,  I 
went  to  Sydney  and  entered  his  stall.  He  didn't 


90  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

recognize  me  until  I  put  my  hand  on  the  scar ;  then 
he  muttered  deep  down  in  his  throat  and  lay  down. 
I  petted  him  and  fed  him  sugar,  and  he  seemed  to 
harbor  no  resentment  against  me,  but  he  did  re- 
member me  in  connection  with  a  strenuous  and  un- 
pleasant afternoon. 


IV 
SHIPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

LEPHANTS  are  easily  trained  and,  when  they 
once  get  the  idea  of  what  is  expected  of  them, 
they  will  do  it  over  and  over  with  little  variation. 
A  trick  or  a  certain  kind  of  work  immediately  be- 
comes a  habit  with  them.  In  fact,  they  can  form 
habits  more  rapidly  than  any  other  animals  I  have 
ever  seen. 

In  Burma  there  are  large  lumber  mills,  and  ele- 
phants are  used  for  rolling  the  logs  into  position 
for  the  saws.  Pushing  with  their  heads,  they  run 
the  logs  up  two  inclined  skids  to  the  platform.  Two 
elephants  do  the  pushing  and  a  third  elephant  acts 
as  boss.  The  boss  need  not  be  an  especially  intelli- 
gent animal ;  he  is  simply  taught  that  the  log  must 
go  up  the  skids  in  a  certain  way  and  that  the  two 
pushers  must  be  kept  even.  In  his  trunk  he  carries 
a  few  links  of  anchor  chain,  which  he  uses  as  a 
whip.  If  one  elephant  falls  behind,  the  boss  gives 
him  a  rap  with  the  chain.  When  the  log  is  on  the 
platform,  the  pushers  turn  and  plod  back  for  an- 
other. The  boss  elephant  is  quite  unimpressed  by 
his  authority,  and  the  others  show  no  resentment 
when  he  swings  the  chain  on  them. 

When  the  whistle  blows,  the  elephants  know  that 

91 


92  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

it  is  time  to  stop  work  and  eat.  It  makes  no  differ- 
ence if  they  have  a  log  within  a  fraction  of  an  inch 
of  the  platform;  the  boss  drops  his  anchor  chain 
and  gets  out  of  the  way,  and  the  pushers  step  to  one 
side,  letting  the  log  crash  down  again.  Then,  with- 
out the  least  expression  of  interest,  they  turn  for 
the  stalls.  Because  they  obey  signals  so  mechanical- 
ly, the  engineer  steps  out,  when  feeding-time  comes, 
and  looks  up  and  down  the  runway  to  see  if  an 
elephant  crew  has  a  log  on  the  skids.  If  so,  he  waits 
until  it  reaches  the  platform  before  he  pulls  the 
whistle-cord. 

The  great  weight  and  bulk  of  elephants  some- 
times make  difficult  the  problem  of  handling  and 
especially  of  shipping  them.  They  are  usually 
hoisted  over  the  side  of  the  ship  in  slings,  but  that 
method  takes  much  time  and  labor,  not  to  speak  of 
very  strong  tackle.  I  did  not  evolve  a  new  one,  how- 
ever, until  the  refusal  of  the  captain  of  one  of  the 
British  India  Steam  Navigation  Company's  boats 
to  take  a  consignment  of  elephants  for  me  put  my 
ingenuity  to  the  test. 

I  was  under  contract  to  send  fifteen  large  ele- 
phants to  Madras,  and  I  had  arranged  with  the  com- 
pany's agent  at  Singapore  for  three  shipments  of 
five  each.  The  animals  were  the  remainder  of  the 
Trengganu  herd  and  I  was  anxious  to  see  them 
shipped,  for  I  was  still  sick  with  the  fever.  The 
doctors  had  told  me  that  the  best  thing  I  could  do 
was  to  leave  the  country  and  recuperate,  and  any 


SHIPPING  WILD  ANIMALS  93 

delay  in  disposing  of  the  animals  meant  a  great 
sacrifice  of  either  money  or  health. 

The  first  five  elephants,  together  with  attendants 
and  food  were  waiting  back  of  the  sheds  at  Tan- 
jong-Pagar,  the  docks  at  Singapore,  to  be  put 
aboard.  At  the  last  moment  the  chief  officer  came 
with  the  message  that  the  captain  refused  to  take 
them. 

I  went  to  the  captain's  cabin  and  found  a  stout, 
red-faced  and  apparently  good-natured  English- 
man. He  was  just  out  of  his  bath,  wearing  pajamas 
and  idling  about  in  his  cabin  until  the  ship  was 
ready  to  get  under  way.  I  thought  it  a  good  time 
to  approach  him,  and  I  took  care  to  be  quite  calm 
and  cool  about  it,  although  I  was  raging  inside. 

I  showed  him  my  receipt  and  the  bill  of  lading 
given  me  by  the  agent.  He  replied  that  the  agent 
was  not  captain  of  the  ship;  he  didn't  care  what 
agreement  the  agent  had  made.  So  long  as  he  was 
captain,  he'd  run  his  ship  to  suit  himself,  and  all 
agents  could  go  to  the  devil,  for  all  he  cared.  And, 
moreover,  he'd  not  carry  elephants — not  for  any  one. 
I  explained  my  position  and  told  him  that  it  would 
mean  a  great  financial  loss  to  me  if  I  failed  on  my 
contract  to  deliver  the  elephants. 

"Look  here,  Mayer,"  he  said,  "I've  handled  ele- 
phants at  Calcutta  and  I've  always  had  a  lot  of 
trouble  with  them.  If  I  load  these  elephants,  it 
means  that  I  have  to  rig  up  extra  gear,  and  I  won't 
do  it." 


94  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

"Captain,"  I  replied,  "I'll  load  those  elephants 
without  using  a  foot  of  rope.  I'll  put  them  anywhere 
you  say,  and  you  won't  have  to  rig  up  a  bit  of  gear. 
And  I'll  unload  them  at  Madras  the  same  way.  Will 
you  say  the  word  ?" 

"I  don't  think  you  can  do  it,"  he  answered,  "but 
I'm  enough  of  a  sportsman  to  give  you  a  chance." 

That  was  all  I  wanted.  I  got  out  before  he  could 
ask  me  how  I  was  going  to  work,  for  I  couldn't  have 
told  him. 

The  elephants  were  to  go  in  the  bow  and  they 
had  to  be  taken  there  through  a  seven-foot  passage 
from  amidships.  The  smallest  of  the  elephants  meas- 
ured fully  seven  feet  and  the  largest  more  than 
eight.  I  decided  that  we  might  as  well  try  the  larg- 
est first,  and  I  asked  that  the  electric  bulbs  be  re- 
moved from  the  ceiling. 

After  some  coaxing  and  prodding,  we  got  the 
first  elephant  up  the  gangplank.  The  others  fol- 
lowed obediently.  Then  I  asked  the  chief  officer  to 
clear  the  cabins  along  the  passage,  for  I  was  afraid 
that  some  one  might  open  a  door  and  frighten  the 
elephant.  A  frightened,  stampeded,  eight-foot  ele- 
phant in  a  seven-foot  passage  would  give  Singapore 
enough  excitement  to  last  for  a  year.  The  chief 
officer  sent  the  people  from  the  cabins  and  locked 
the  doors. 

The  elephant  balked  at  sight  of  the  passage.  I 
was  at  his  head,  talking  to  him  and  coaxing  him, 
and  two  attendants  were  behind,  prodding.  We 


SHIPPING  WILD  ANIMALS  95 

made  him  kneel  and  then  urged  him  forward.  At 
last  we  got  him  into  the  passage.  It  was  a  tight  fit. 
His  sides  scraped  the  walls.  I  gasped  at  the  thought 
of  what  would  happen  if  he  suddenly  became  afraid. 
He  would  try  to  stand  up,  of  course,  and  then 
wedged  in,  he  would  begin  to  kick  and  lunge  his 
way  out;  and  the  other  four,  who  were  close  be- 
hind him,  would  do  the  same.  "And  then,  good- 
by,  steamship,"  I  said  to  myself.  Slowly  we  made 
our  way  forward,  with  the  five  elephants  hobbling 
along  on  their  knees.  I  stayed  close  to  the  head  of 
the  first,  talking  to  him  and  petting  him.  Finally 
we  came  to  the  end  of  the  passage,  and  I  drew  the 
first  deep  breath  in  fifteen  minutes.  I  took  the  ven- 
ture simply  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  I  didn't  say 
anything  that  gave  the  captain  an  idea  of  what  my 
emotions  had  been  in  that  passage ;  but  Ali  looked 
at  me  and  I  looked  at  Ali,  and  there  was  no  need  of 
words. 

I  washed  and  went  to  the  captain's  cabin  for 
breakfast,  while  the  men  secured  the  elephants  in 
their  quarters. 

The  captain  said,  "Mayer,  that  was  the  quickest 
and  slickest  thing  I've  ever  seen,  but  what  am  I  go- 
ing to  do  with  those  animals  at  Madras  ?" 

I  knew  that  there  were  no  docks  at  Madras  and 
that  all  freight  was  unloaded  into  lighters,  but  I 
answered,  "My  men  will  attend  to  them." 

When  the  ship  reached  Madras,  the  attendants 
opened  the  doors  and  simply  backed  the  elephants 


96  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

overboard.  They  hit  the  water  with  a  great  splash 
and  a  roar  and  came  up  blowing  like  whales.  They 
were  swimming,  of  course,  for  elephants  swim  bet- 
ter than  any  other  land  animals  I  have  ever  seen. 
The  attendants  approached  them  in  rowboats,  and, 
jumping  on  their  backs,  rode  them  to  shore.  By 
the  time  they  reached  land,  they  had  completely 
recovered  from  the  excitement  of  falling  overboard. 

The  captain  returned  to  Singapore,  enthusiastic 
over  this  new  way  of  handling  elephants,  and  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  shipping  my  last  consignment  to 
Madras  on  his  ship.  He  advised  me  never  to  take 
an  agent's  word  for  what  the  captain  of  a  ship  will 
or  will  not  do,  and  after  that  experience,  I  always 
saw  the  captain  first  and  the  agent  second. 

In  collecting  and  trapping  of  wild  animals  one 
must  not  think  that  all  animals  so  caught  are  fit 
for  zoological  or  show  purposes.  Such  is  not  the 
case ;  often  after  trailing  animals  for  days  and  after 
having  trapped  them,  I  found  them  old,  scarred, 
mangey,  with  broken  tails  and  in  numerous  ways 
unfit,  and  although  I  rarely  killed,  except  in  self- 
preservation,  I  would  kill  off  all  such  as  were  not  fit. 

All  animals  I  sold  and  shipped  were  at  the  time 
of  embarkment,  healthy,  sound  and  in  good  con- 
dition. As  I  never  carried  with  my  outfit  any 
preparation  for  the  curing  of  skins,  I  usually  al- 
lowed the  natives  to  have  them,  although  I  often 
presented  good  specimens  to  the  Raffles  Museum 
at  Singapore  that  were  mounted  and  catalogued 


97 

as  donations  from  myself.  In  one  exhibit  a  group 
of  eight  orang-outangs,  from  babies  to  full  grown, 
and  a  baby  elephant  were  well  mounted  and  always 
came  in  for  the  particular  notice  of  visitors. 

I  was  having  a  busy  week  at  my  animal  house 
in  Singapore,  getting  a  lot  of  animals  recaged  and 
ready  for  shipment  to  Melbourne,  for  Mr.  La  Souef, 
Director  of  the  Melbourne  Zoological  Society,  who 
was  then  on  a  visit  to  Singapore  with  his  wife,  when 
one  day  a  messenger  came  from  the  Sultan  of 
Johore,  inviting  Mr.  and  Mrs.  La  Souef  and  myself 
to  call  the  following  day. 

As  Singapore  is  an  island  of  fourteen  by  sixteen 
miles,  and  separated  from  the  main  land  by  the 
Straits  of  Johore,  the  extreme  southern  point  of 
Asia,  or  the  Malay  Peninsula,  it  really  meant  but 
a  few  hours,  sixteen  miles  by  rail  to  Kranji  and  by 
ferry  across  the  Straits  about  a  mile  to  Johore. 

Back  of  the  jail  at  Johore  were  built  eight  large, 
strong  iron  cages,  in  which  were  kept  all  tigers, 
leopards  and  smaller  cat  animals  that  were  caught 
throughout  the  state  of  Johore  and  were  sent  to 
the  Sultan  for  him  to  present  as  gifts  or  sell  as  he 
saw  fit.  I  eventually  had  first  call  on  all  animals 
so  caught. 

On  the  following  day,  arriving  at  Johore,  we  were 
met  my  Dato  Muntre,  the  prime  minister,  and  in- 
troduced to  Sultan  Ibriam,  who  was  at  that  time  a 
young  man  and  with  whom  I  was  very  well  acquaint- 
ed. After  showing  Mr.  and  Mrs.  La  Souef  through 


98  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

his  palace  and  grounds,  we  came  to  the  cages  back 
of  the  jail,  which  contained  three  tigers,  two  black 
and  one  spotted  leopard.  The  Sultan,  pointing  to 
one  cage  which  contained  a  beautiful  specimen  of 
tiger,  young,  beautifully  striped,  and  a  bright 
golden  yellow,  said  he  wished  to  present  that  tiger 
to  the  Melbourne  Society  as  a  gift,  and,  turning 
to  me  said,  "Tuan  Mayer,  you  can  get  him  when- 
ever you  wish,"  he  knowing  I  was  Mr.  La  Souef's 
agent. 

Mr.  La  Souef  was  delighted  and  thanked  the 
Sultan  in  his  and  the  Society's  name,  promising 
to  put  his  gift  in  a  prominent  place  in  the  Melbourne 
Garden. 

On  our  return  to  Singapore,  I  had  quite  an  argu- 
ment with  Mr.  La  Souef  regarding  the  flimsy,  un- 
suitable cages  he  was  having  made  to  suit  himself, 
and  every  time  I  ventured  to  point  out  the  inad- 
visability  of  certain  cages  being  built  under  his 
directions,  he  would  invariably  say,  "Mr.  Mayer, 
you  may  be  right.  I  also  am  right,  and  I  have 
handled  animals  longer  than  you."  As  the  ani- 
mals were  his  and  he  insisted  on  having  his  way, 
I  simply  carried  out  his  instructions.  His  idea 
was  to  build  large,  roomy  cages  from  the  cheapest 
of  wood  (siraih),  having  a  space  between  the  floor 
and  the  cross  section  holding  the  iron  bars,  to  clean 
out  the  cages  and  to  hand  in  food. 

I  never  would  think  of  shipping  an  animal  in 
such  a  cage.  First  it  is  too  large  and  roomy,  giv- 


SHIPPING  WILD  ANIMALS  99 

ing  the  animal  too  much  play  to  break  the  cage, 
and  as  it  was  weakened  by  having  a  space  between 
the  floor  and  the  cross  piece,  unless  made  of  heavy 
and  strong  wood.  I  always  caged  for  shipping 
animals  in  small  narrow  cages  or  boxes;  heavy 
wood;  sides  of  wood,  but  bars  at  each  end  and  no 
space.  When  wood  or  water  was  to  be  given  them, 
the  food  was  cut  up  small  enough  to  be  poured 
between  the  bars,  and  a  drinking  pan  nailed  to  the 
floor  of  the  cage.  When  cleaning  out  the  cage  on 
board  the  steamer,  both  front  and  rear  covers  were 
taken  off  and  the  cage  flushed  with  water,  at  the 
same  time  giving  the  animal  a  bath.  The  bath  in 
some  instances,  and  according  to  the  animal,  would 
be  dispensed  with,  but  never  with  cat  animals. 

I  returned  to  Johore  the  following  day  with  a 
transporting  cage,  and  with  AH  and  the  assistance 
of  a  few  of  the  prisoners  from  the  jail,  soon  had 
the  tiger  safely  boxed  and  on  his  way  in  a  bullock 
cart  to  my  animal  house  in  Orchard  Road,  there 
to  be  recaged  in  the  cage  Mr  La  Souef  was 
having  built  under  his  directions,  by  my  Chinese 
carpenter  who  built  all  my  cages.  Taking  me  aside 
he  said :  "Tuan,  etn,  Orang  bon-yer,  gee-har  sat-tu 
Jam  remow  pe-char"  (Sir,  that  man  is  very  fool- 
ish, the  tiger  will  break  his  cage  in  an  hour).  I 
said,  "Never  mind,  make  the  cage  as  he  wants  it, 
that  is  his  look  out." 

Well,  the  cage  was  made,  the  tiger  moved  into 
it,  and  a  few  days  later  we  loaded  his  shipment  on 


ioo  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

board  the  steamer,  ours  being  the  last  thing  to 
be  put  on  board.  As  the  steamer  was  to  sail 
at  midnight,  we  had  no  trouble  in  placing  the 
cages  on  deck,  and,  as  space  was  limited,  I  sug- 
gested to  Mr.  La  Souef  to  let  me  arrange  the  plac- 
ing of  cages  and  animals.  But  no,  he  would  see 
to  that,  and  told  the  captain  that  he  would  like  to 
have  them  placed  as  he  wished.  They  were  on  the 
forward  deck,  in  a  circle  about  the  hatch,  with  the 
smaller  animals  and  deer  facing  the  cages  on  deck, 
on  the  hatch  itself.  Can  you  imagine  placing  deer 
in  crates  facing  tigers  in  none  too  strong  boxes  ? 

I  bade  Mr.  La  Souef  and  his  wife  bon  voyage, 
and  wished  him  success  in  landing  his  shipment. 
Mr.  La  Souef  was  a  personal  friend  of  the  owner 
of  the  steamship  company,  the  McAllister  line,  who 
was  a  patron  and  also  a  director  of  the  Melbourne 
Zoological  Society.  As  Mr.  La  Souef  had  taken 
the  trip  with  his  wife  as  guests  of  the  owner,  Cap- 
tain Edwards  of  the  vessel  used  diplomacy,  said 
nothing,  and  allowed  Mr.  La  Souef  to  have  his 
way;  but  before  going  ashore,  I  said  to  Captain 
Edwards,  "watch  out,  there  is  going  to  be  trouble 
before  you  get  to  Melbourne."  "Never  fear,"  he 
replied,  "Mayer,  I'll  kill  or  dump  the  whole  lot 
over  the  side  if  anything  starts,  friend  of  the  boss 
or  not!  I  have  my  other  passengers  to  look  to." 
I  said  good-bye  to  him  hoping  to  see  him  on  his 
return  trip,  when  I  would  hear  the  news,  if  any. 

The   shipment   consisted   of   the   following,   not 


IOI 


counting  the  tiger,  the  gift  of  the  Sultan  of  Johore : 
Two  small  orang-outangs,  twenty  monkeys,  one  sun 
bear,  one  honey  bear,  two  civet  cats,  one  bintu- 
rong,  four  crown  gora  pheasants,  one  black  leopard, 
one  clouded  leopard,  spotted  and  looking  like  an 
ocelot,  one  female  tiger,  two  samber  deer,  two 
mouse  deer,  in  all  fourteen  cages  and  three  crates. 

At  five  o'clock  the  following  morning,  I  was 
awakened  by  a  hammering  at  the  gate  and  the  call- 
ing of  "Tuan !  Tuan !"  Looking  out,  I  saw  a  native 
boatman.  "What  do  you  want?"  I  called. 

"Tuan,  etu  re-mow,  pe-char  sanken,  mon  lor- 
rie"  (Sir,  the  tiger  has  broken  his  cage  and  wants 
to  run  away). 

"What  tiger?    Where,"  I  asked. 

He  said,  the  tiger  from  the  steamer. 

"Well,  what  do  you  want  me  to  do  ?  The  steamer 
left  last  night.  I  am  through  with  it."" 

"Te-dar  Tuan"  (No,  Sir),  he  said,  handing  me 
a  letter,  "the  tiger  is  in  my  lighter  and  is  tied  to 
one  of  the  buoys  in  the  harbor."  He  begged  me  to 
get  the  tiger,  as  no  one  was  near  or  on  the  lighter. 

The  letter,  which  was  from  Mr.  La  Souef,  writ- 
ten before  the  steamer  sailed,  stated  that  the  tiger 
presented  by  the  Sultan  of  Johore  had  broken  his 
cage  and  was  in  danger  of  getting  clear  away,  as 
the  captain  had  had  a  sling  put  about  the  broken 
cage  after  the  ship's  carpenter  had  nailed  a  few 
boards  to  cover  the  hole  the  tiger  had  made  and 
partly  strengthened  it,  hung  the  cage  over  the  side 


102  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

of  the  ship,  telling  Mr.  La  Souef  that  if  he  did  not 
get  some  kind  of  a  boat  or  lighter  to  put  the  cage 
in,  he  would  drop  tiger,  cage  and  all  into  the  water, 
and  as  this  happened  at  about  half-past  eleven  at 
night,  things  did  not  look  very  bright  for  Mr.  La 
Souef.  He  begged  and  prayed  the  captain  to  let 
the  carpenter  or  himself  get  nails  and  boards,  but 
the  captain  was  firm.  They  finally  got  the  head 
stevedore  of  the  dock  to  let  him  put  the  cage  in 
a  lighter,  which  they  did,  and  then  towed  the  lighter 
out  in  the  harbor,  everyone  leaving  it  as  soon  as 
it  was  tied  to  a  buoy,  and  Mr.  La  Souef  then  told 
them  to  notify  me,  which  they  did.  There  I  was, 
with  instructions  to  get  the  tiger,  recage  it  and 
ship  by  next  steamer,  eighteen  days  later. 

I  asked  the  boatman  where  the  lighter  was.  Tak- 
ing Ali  and  four  natives  with  ropes,  boards,  nails, 
etc.,  we  went  down  to  the  docks,  and  there  out  in 
the  harbor  tied  to  buoy  was  the  lighter  with  a  fleet 
of  small  boats  surrounding  it  at  a  good  distance.  I 
called  a  sampan  and  told  the  owner  of  the  lighter 
to  follow.  As  we  neared  the  lighter,  we  could  hear 
the  growling  and  the  tearing  of  wood,  and  getting 
alongside  and  cautiously  climbing  up,  I  looked  in. 

There  was  the  cage  with  the  tiger's  head  through 
a  hole  that  it  was  trying  to  make  larger.  Fortu- 
nately the  cage  had  been  strengthened  by  the  ship's 
carpenter,  otherwise  he  would  have  broken  out  and 
escaped  before  I  could  have  been  notified.  By  that 
time  the  docks  were  lined  with  people.  The  story 


SHIPPING  WILD  ANIMALS  103 

had  spread  that  there  was  a  lighter  in  the  harbor, 
filled  with  wild  animals  that  had  broken  out  of  their 
cages  and  were  fighting  and  killing  one  another 
and  those  that  could  escape  would  jump  into  the 
harbor  and  make  for  the  shore.  Then  some  one 
called  Police  Headquarters  and  four  European 
officers  came  down  to  the  dock  with  repeaters. 

AH  and  I  dropped  into  the  lighter,  calling  to  the 
natives  to  pass  the  boards,  nails  and  hammers,  and 
assuming  that  there  was  no  danger,  we  took  each 
an  end  of  a  board  and  carrying  it  to  the  top  of  the 
cage  passed  it  over  until  it  covered  the  hole  the 
tiger  had  his  head  out  of.  As  AH  and  I  held  the 
board  my  men  nailed  it  and  then  another,  so  soon 
we  had  him  fairly  well  secured;  that  is,  he  was  in 
the  cage  again,  snarling,  biting  and  scratching. 
Calling  to  the  owner  of  the  lighter  to  come  aboard 
with  his  men  and  row  his  lighter  to  the  docks,  we 
went  to  work  and  nailed  board  after  board  against 
and  over  all  weak  spots.  There  was  no  need  to  tell 
the  boatmen  to  hurry;  they  never  rowed  faster. 
Arriving  at  the  docks,  and  after  telling  the  inspec- 
tor just  what  had  happened,  we  got  the  cage  on 
a  bullock  cart  and  soon  had  the  tiger  safe  at  my 
animal  house.  Three  weeks  later  I  shipped  him 
aboard  in  a  good  strong  cage,  in  charge  of  the  cap- 
tain, but  as  the  steamer  was  steaming  up  the  Yarra 
river  into  Melbourne,  the  tiger  died.  An  autopsy 
showed  he  died  of  a  fractured  skull,  and  later  I  got 
the  full  particulars. 


104  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

It  seemed  that  when  the  tiger  first  attempted  to 
break  out  of  his  cage  on  board  the  steamer  and  the 
carpenter  was  ordered  to  get  some  boards  and  cover 
the  hole  he  had  been  tearing,  as  the  head  showed 
against  the  opening  the  carpenter  struck  it  with  his 
hammer.     The  deer  and  smaller  animals  became 
terrified,  and  in  their  endeavor  to  escape,  the  deer's 
legs  got  through  the  slats  in  the  crates ;  they  broke 
their  legs  and  had  to  be  killed.     This  I  was  told 
later  by  Captain  Edwards,  who  said  it  all  happened 
within  a  few  minutes,  Mr.  La  Souef  running  about 
like  a  madman,  begging  this  and  that,  getting  in 
the  way  of  everybody,  but  no  one  paying  any  atten- 
tion to  him,  and  what  with  the  excitement  among 
the  passengers,  the  roaring  of  the  tigers,  barking 
of  the  bears,  chatter  of  monkeys  and  crying  of  the 
smaller  cats,  and  the  frantic  efforts  of  the  deer  to 
break  through  the  crates,  he  was  only  adding  to  the 
confusion   and   disorder,   until    Captain   Edwards 
ordered  the  water  hose  brought  into  play  to  quiet 
the  animals.     He  told  the  carpenter  to  get  some 
boards  and  nail  up  the  opening  the  tiger  had  made, 
then  having  a  sling  put  about  the  cage  with  the  tiger 
snarling  and  biting  and  tearing  at  the  opening  it 
had  started,  but  now  covered  by  the  planks,  swung 
it  over  the  side  of  the  ship  and  there  it  hung.    The 
captain  then  had  the  cages  taken  off  the  hatch  and 
placed  against  the  side  of  the  steamer,  telling  Mr. 
La  Souef  that  if  he  did  not  keep  quiet  he  would  have 


SHIPPING  WILD  ANIMALS  105 

the  whole  shipment  put  over  the  side  and  dumped 
into  the  harbor. 

That  was  the  story  Captain  Edwards  told  me  on 
his  return  trip  to  Singapore,  and  he  laughed  heart- 
ily over  the  way  he  said  Mr.  La  Souef  was  hopping 
about  in  his  pajamas. 

My  bill  against  the  Society  for  services,  paying 
for  the  lighter  the  tiger  was  put  into  from  the 
steamer,  labor,  recaging,  feeding  for  twenty-one 
days,  and  enough  food  for  eighteen  to  twenty-one 
days'  voyage  to  Melbourne  seemed  to  Mr.  La  Souef 
an  overcharge  and  my  bill  of  £50  all  out  of  propor- 
tion ;  as  the  tiger  was  a  gift  from  the  Sultan  of  Jo- 
hore  and  not  purchased.  I  insisted  and  drew  on  him 
for  that  amount,  at  the  same  time  resigning  as  agent 
for  his  society,  telling  him  that  although  he  was  an 
older  man,  he  had  still  to  learn  the  art  of  caging, 
recaging  and  shipping  animals,  not  receiving  them, 
and  that  had  he  not  insisted  on  having  things  done 
his  own  way  with  cheap  material,  and  had  left  it  to 
me,  what  happened  could  not  have  happened,  as 
barely  one-third  of  his  shipment  landed  alive. 

By  the  time  I  had  disposed  of  the  last  of  my  ele- 
phants, I  was  so  sick  with  the  fever  that  I  could  not 
leave  my  bed.  I  was  dangerously  ill  and  I  began 
to  realize  that  I  should  be  lucky  if  I  escaped  with 
my  life. 

Mr.  Lambert,  who  had  been  my  friend  ever  since 
I  landed  at  Singapore  to  enter  the  animal  business, 
engaged  passage  for  me  on  a  steamer  bound  for 


io6  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

Europe  and  took  charge  of  the  affairs  of  my  animal 
house  in  Orchard  Road.  When  it  was  time  to  go 
to  the  steamer,  my  Chinese  coolie  boy  carried  me. 
He  is  the  only  Chinese  I  have  ever  seen  cry;  the 
tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks  as  he  carried  me  up  the 
gangplank  and  to  my  cabin,  for  he  thought  that  he 
should  never  see  me  again.  I  rather  thought  so 
myself,  but  I  figured  that  if  they  didn't  drop  me 
into  the  Red  Sea,  which  is  the  last  resting-place  of 
so  many  people  who  have  stayed  too  long  in  the 
tropics,  I  should  recover  and  live  to  return. 

Ali  and  the  coolie  waited  faithfully  for  me  during 
the  next  year,  while  I  traveled  in  Europe  and 
America,  recuperating  and  gathering  new  commis- 
sions for  animals.  And,  when  I  came  back,  they 
were  on  the  dock  to  welcome  me. 

Though  my  health  was  much  improved  by  the 
voyage  I  did  not  feel  able  to  resume  the  active  busi- 
ness of  collecting,  and  so  I  concentrated  my  efforts 
upon  my  animal  house  and  made  it  the  largest  place 
of  its  kind.  I  had  a  monopoly  of  the  business. 
Mahommed  Ariff,  who  had  a  large  nuniber  of 
native  collectors  working  for  him,  did  much  of  his 
dealing  through  me,  and  I  had  no  difficulty  in  dis- 
posing of  all  the  animals  brought  in  from  the  jun- 
gles by  our  various  agents.  My  largest  market  was 
Australia,  where  I  could  sell  the  animals  f.  o.  b. 
Singapore  without  any  of  the  risk  of  transportation. 
Also,  I  made  shipments  to  Hagenbeck,  of  Germany, 
and  Cross,  of  Liverpool.  Because  of  the  high 


SHIPPING  WILD  ANIMALS  107 

import  duty,  I  sent  comparatively  few  of  my  ani- 
mals to  the  United  States. 

John  Anderson,  who  was  European  adviser  to 
the  King  of  Siam  and  who  had  been  created  a  Siam- 
ese nobleman,  sent  for  me  and  offered  me  a  commis- 
sion that  kept  me  busy  for  the  next  five  years.  The 
King  of  Siam  was  in  the  habit  of  making  presents 
of  wild  animals  to  foreign  rulers,  and  it  became  my 
work  to  select  the  animals  and  supervise  all  details 
of  shipment.  I  was  sent  to  interview  the  Minister 
of  the  Interior,  H.  H.  Prince  Damerong,  who  gave 
me  a  permit  to  travel  wherever  I  pleased  in  Siam 
and  to  force  labor.  In  Siam,  I  directed  many  hunts, 
especially  for  tuskers  to  be  used  in  the  teak  forests. 
The  driving  was  done  entirely  during  the  daytime, 
and  on  elephants,  instead  of  on  foot,  as  in  Treng- 
ganu.  The  fever  had  left  me  in  bad  condition,  and 
so  I  did  not  take  an  active  part  in  the  work. 

On  my  trips  between  Bangkok  and  Singapore,  I 
stopped  off  many  times  at  Trengganu  to  renew  my 
acquaintance  with  the  Sultan  and  to  talk,  with  the 
native  hunters,  who  were  sending  a  steady  stream 
of  animals  to  me  at  Singapore.  I  was  known  to  the 
natives  throughout  the  Peninsula  as  Tuan  Gdjah — 
Sir  Elephant — and  I  was  amused  to  find  that  the 
story  of  the  big  elephant  hunt  had  grown  to  incred- 
ible proportions.  The  herd  of  sixty  elephants  be- 
came larger  each  time  the  story  was  told. 

After  one  exciting  incident  in  the  work  of  ship- 
ping animals  for  the  King  of  Siam,  I  was  allowed 


io8 

full  authority.  We  were  sending  a  pair  of  beauti- 
fully matched  leopards  to  the  Emperor  of  Austria, 
and  they  had  reached  Singapore  in  two  large, 
poorly  constructed  cages.  Mr.  Anderson  was  there, 
and  we  disagreed  on  the  advisability  of  recaging 
them.  I  thought  that  the  cages  looked  weak  and  I 
wished  to  have  my  Chinese  carpenter  build  two  that 
would  be  smaller  and  stronger.  Mr.  Anderson, 
however,  was  impatient  to  start  the  leopards  on 
their  voyage,  and,  since  he  was  boss,  we  loaded  the 
cages  on  bullock-carts  and  headed  for  the  docks.  In 
unloading  one  of  the  bullock-carts,  the  natives 
allowed  the  case  to  slide  to  the  ground  too  heavily ; 
the  cage  broke,  and  out  went  Mr.  Leopard  like  a 
flash  of  lightning,  heading  straight  for  the  Chinese 
quarter.  The  Chinese  saw  him  coming,  and  a  panic 
started.  They  tumbled  over  one  another  in  getting 
out  of  the  way,  and  two  of  them  were  scratched. 
The  leopard  was  quite  as  frightened  as  any  of  the 
Chinese.  The  natives  in  charge  of  the  bullock-cart 
came  running  for  me,  and  I  went  to  the  Chinese 
quarter  to  find  the  leopard.  He  had  taken  refuge 
in  a  house,  and  I  finally  discovered  him  hiding 
under  the  stairs,  his  eyes  shining  in  the  darkness. 
Since  it  was  impossible  to  get  rid  of  the  mob  of 
Chinese  and  recaging  under  the  circumstances 
would  have  been  too  dangerous,  we  had  to  shoot 
the  animal.  We  took  the  other  leopard  back  to 
Orchard  Road  and  built  a  new  cage. 

In  1902,  just  before  the  rainy  season,  I  was  rest- 


SHIPPING  WILD  ANIMALS  109 

ing  in  Singapore  after  six  months  of  hard  work. 
Just  as  I  had  almost  decided  to  go  to  Europe,  I  hap- 
pened to  see  in  an  old  copy  of  the  New  York  Clipper 
an  advertisement  of  a  steam  merry-go-round.  That 
gave  me  an  idea ;  there  had  never  been  a  merry-go- 
round  in  the  Malay  Peninsula,  and  I  was  confident 
enough  of  my  judgment  of  Malay  nature  to  gamble 
that  it  would  be  a  success.  Mr.  Lambert  didn't 
agree  with  me.  "Forget  about  it,"  he  advised. 
"Take  the  steamer  and  have  a  good  vacation."  But 
I  went  to  the  Hongkong  and  Shanghai  Bank  and 
cabled  $2,000  in  gold  to  the  factory  at  North  Tona- 
wanda,  New  York,  with  instructions  to  ship  me  the 
merry-go-round  on  the  first  boat,  via  London.  It 
arrived  nine  weeks  later,  and  it  cost  me  £110  in 
freight.  The  rain  was  beating  down  steadily  in 
Singapore,  and  so  I  transshipped  it  to  Penang. 

A  few  days  later,  I  was  in  Penang,  driving 
around  in  a  rickshaw,  looking  for  a  good  location, 
while  the  merry-go-round,  still  in  crates,  was  com- 
ing ashore  in  sampans.  Opposite  the  Hotel  de  la 
Paix  I  found  a  good  open  space,  and  I  routed  out  of 
bed  the  Chinese  merchant  who  owned  it.  I  told  him 
that  I  should  like  to  rent  the  lot  for  a  show  and  that, 
if  he  would  come  to  terms  with  me,  I  would  let  him 
and  his  family  ride  free  of  charge.  Now  a  Chinese 
likes  a  show  better  than  anything  else  on  earth,  and 
so  we  were  not  long  in  closing  a  bargain.  I  was 
to  pay  him  a  rental  of  $i  Mexican  a  day  and  to 
have  an  option  of  two  months  on  the  lot.  I  had  no 


i  io  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

paper  on  which  to  write  out  the  agreement,  and  so, 
since  I  didn't  want  him  to  change  his  mind,  I  paid 
him  $30  for  one  month,  writing  the  receipt  in  my 
pith  helmet.  He  signed  in  my  hat;  then  we  pasted 
a  stamp  in  it  and  canceled  the  stamp  by  writing  the 
date  across  it. 

While  AH  and  my  coolie  boy  were  getting  the 
merry-go-round  unloaded,  I  collected  a  gang  of 
laborers  and  an  engineer.  All  that  day  we  worked 
at  uncrating  the  merry-go-round  and  putting  it 
together.  The  natives  stood  around,  watching  us 
and  speculating  as  to  what  this  strange  new  thing 
could  possibly  be.  The  merry-go-round  ran  on 
wheels  on  a  track  and  the  horses  were  connected 
with  eccentrics,  which  worked  them  up  and  down; 
a  good  loud  organ  was  connected  by  a  belt  with  one 
of  the  wheels.  The  merry-go-round  carried  fifty- 
six  people. 

I  began  business  on  the  Chinese  New  Year's  Day. 
The  merry-go-round  was  the  sensation  of  Penang. 
The  crowds  flocked  to  see  it,  and  the  natives  lined 
up  for  several  hundred  yards,  each  with  his  dime  in 
his  hand,  waiting  for  his  turn.  We  were  so  busy 
that  I  could  not  even  go  to  the  hotel  for  a  meal; 
the  brassy  organ  of  the  merry-go-round  shrieked 
from  early  in  the  morning  until  late  at  night.  In 
two  days,  I  took  in  $1,500  Mexican. 

On  the  third  day  the  merchant  from  whom  I  had 
rented  the  lot  announced  that  he  was  going  to  build 
a  fence  around  it  and  charge  two  cents  for  the  priv- 


SHIPPING  WILD  ANIMALS  in 

ilege  of  standing  and  watching  the  merry-go-round. 
I  told  him  that  I  wouldn't  allow  it ;  that  all  of  Pen- 
ang  could  come  and  see  my  show  free.  I  was  too 
busy  taking  in  dimes  to  think  about  fences.  He 
went  away  angry  and  disappointed.  Four  days  later 
a  lawyer  representing  him  came  to  see  me.  He  said 
that  the  rent  had  been  raised  to  $10  a  day,  and  that 
a  dispossess  order  would  be  executed  unless  I  paid 
it.  I  told  the  lawyer  to  wait  and  I  went  back  to 
the  hotel,  to  get  my  pith  helmet. 

The  merchant  had  forgotten  about  the  receipt. 
When  the  lawyer  saw  it,  he  told  me  that  the  mer- 
chant was  unpopular  with  all  the  Malays  and  Chi- 
nese in  Penang  because  he  cheated  them,  and  that 
they  would  be  delighted  if  I  sued  for  breach  of 
contract.  The  result  was  that,  for  $i  a  day,  I  got 
the  use  of  the  lot  as  long  as  I  wanted  it. 

Within  six  weeks  I  had  made  up  the  entire  cost 
of  the  merry-go-round  and  I  was  on  velvet.  The 
dimes  were  still  rolling  in  as  fast  as  I  could  collect 
them.  Finally,  when  the  novelty  of  my  show  had 
worn  off  and  business  began  to  slacken,  I  shipped  to 
Rangoon,  Burma,  to  collect  dimes  there.  After  the 
merry-go-round  had  been  running  two  weeks,  I  was 
approached  by  a  man  who  wished  to  buy  me  out. 
I  had  had  all  the  fun  I  wanted,  and  so  I  sold  it  to 
him  for  10,000  rupees — $4,500  in  gold.  He  was  a 
government  official  and  consequently  did  not  wish 
to  appear  in  the  transaction.  The  bill  of  sale  was 
made  out  in  his  wife's  name,  and  a  man  was  hired 


112  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

to  run  the  merry-go-round  for  him.  I  stayed  for  a 
week  to  get  the  enterprise  started;  then  I  went  up 
to  the  lumber  mills  to  see  if  the  lumbermen  needed 
elephants.  When  I  returned  to  Singapore,  I  had  a 
commission  for  six  large  elephants. 

It  was  a  better  vacation  than  I  could  have  had  in 
Europe.  I  had  made  many  friends  and  attended  to 
some  animal  business  and  I  had  £700  clear  profit  in 
my  pockets. 

At  my  animal  house  I  found  a  letter  from  Mr. 
La  Soeuf,  the  director  of  the  Perth  Zoological  Gar- 
dens, saying  that  he  was  anxious  to  get  a  rhinoceros 
and  asking  what  I  could  do  for  him.  I  did  not  want 
to  go  into  the  jungle  again  immediately,  for  I  was 
afraid  of  a  return  of  the  fever,  but  I  replied  that  I 
would  see  what  could  be  done  and  I  sent  out  word 
to  all  my  native  agents.  Both  Mr.  La  Souef  and  his 
father,  who  was  director  of  the  gardens  at  Mel- 
bourne, were  great  friends  of  mine,  and  their  gar- 
dens had  been  my  best  market  for  animals.  Quite 
naturally,  I  wanted  to  do  everything  I  could  to  help 
them,  and  so,  when  word  came  from  an  agent  in 
Trengganu  that  some  rhinoceroses  had  been  located 
there,  I  packed  up  my  kit  and  started  out. 

At  Trengganu,  the  Sultan  welcomed  me,  and  I 
spent  several  days  with  him,  telling  him  what  was 
happening  in  the  world  and  discussing  his  problems. 
The  problems  were  largely  financial.  He  owed 
some  money,  and,  knowing  that  he  had  something 


SHIPPING  WILD  ANIMALS  113 

in  the  treasury,  I  asked  why  he  did  not  pay  his 
debts. 

He  thought  for  a  time  and  then  replied:  "Well, 
I'll  tell  you.  If  I  pay  those  people,  they  will  forget 
about  the  Sultan  of  Trengganu.  If  I  don't  pay  them, 
they'll  never  forget  me." 

The  conversation  turned  to  the  subject  of  pris- 
oners. On  my  way  to  the  palace  I  'had  passed  the 
cages  where  the  prisoners  were  kept.  Many  of 
them  were  starving  to  death,  for,  unless  their 
friends  or  family  cared  for  them,  they  got  no  food. 

"Why  don't  you  feed  them?"  I  asked. 

"Why  should  I?"  he  replied.  "If  I  feed  them, 
my  whole  country  will  want  to  go  to  jail." 

Finally,  after  he  had  satisfied  his  craving  for 
sociability,  he  gave  me  my  official  permit  to  go  into 
the  interior  and  to  force  labor.  I  started  out  for 
the  upper  end  of  his  state,  bordering  on  Lower 
Siam.  At  the  mouth  of  the  River  Stu,  I  found 
my  agent ;  we  gathered  a  crew  of  ten  men  and  went 
up  the  river  as  far  as  we  could.  When  the  weeds 
became  so  thick  that  we  could  not  force  the  boats 
through,  we  took  to  the  jungle  and  began  cutting 
our  way  to  the  mud-puddle  where  the  rhinoceroses 
came  to  wallow. 

We  took  great  precautions  in  approaching  the 
puddle,  for  once  a  rhinoceros  gets  the  scent  of  a 
hunter,  he  is  off  through  the  jungle  as  fast  as  he 
can  go.  The  hunter,  who  spots  his  animal  and 
shoots,  has  an  easy  time  of  it ;  but  the  collector,  who 


ii4  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

must  capture,  has  a  more  difficult  job.  He  must 
work  and  build  his  trap  at  the  very  spot  frequented 
by  the  animal  and  he  must  do  so  without  exciting 
suspicion.  A  rhinoceros  seldom  charges  when  he 
sees  a  man,  and  his  charge  is  not  dangerous,  for  he 
is  short-sighted  and  cannot  gauge  his  direction 
accurately.  Most  often  he  runs,  and  it  is  almost 
impossible,  even  when  the  collector  can  find  him 
again,  to  chase  or  lure  him  back  to  the  trap. 

No  animals  were  at  the  puddle  when  we  arrived, 
and  I  had  a  good  opportunity  to  examine  the  loca- 
tion. Then  we  withdrew  and  I  told  the  men  how 
we  should  go  about  making  the  capture.  We  made 
camp,  building  platforms  between  the  trees  for  liv- 
ing-quarters, and  I  detailed  some  of  the  men  to  the 
work  on  a  rattan  net,  which  measured  twenty  by 
fifteen  feet,  with  meshes  ten  inches  square.  I  felt 
that  we  had  a  good  chance  of  getting  a  rhinoceros 
in  a  net-trap  and  should  save  ourselves  much  time 
and  labor  if  we  could  do  so.  When  the  net  was 
ready,  we  put  it  in  position  at  a  likely-looking 
approach — half  on  the  ground,  where  the  animal 
would  step  into  it,  and  half  suspended,  so  that  he 
would  catch  it  with  his  head  and  bring  it  down 
about  him. 

Then  we  turned  our  attention  to  making  pits.  As 
I  have  explained  before,  a  heavy  animal  was  sure 
to  injure  himself  in  falling  into  a  square  pit  such 
as  the  natives  generally  dug,  and,  of  course,  an 
injured  animal  would  have  been  of  no  use  to  me. 


SHIPPING  WILD  ANIMALS  115 

Hence  the  four  pits  that  we  dug  around  the  puddle 
were  made  wedge-shaped,  instead  of  square.  They 
were  six  feet  wide  at  the  top  and  tapered  to  three 
feet  at  the  bottom;  they  were  eight  feet  deep  and 
ten  feet  long,  with  the  approach  tapering  down  so 
there  would  be  the  least  possible  chance  that  the 
beast  would  injure  himself  when  he  fell. 

Over  the  tops  of  the  pits  we  built  platforms  of 
bamboo  poles,  and  covered  them  with  mud  and 
leaves,  taking  care  to  leave  no  traces  of  our  work. 
To  the  building  of  each  pit  we  gave  a  whole  day 
of  hard  labor  and  we  were  constantly  on  the  alert 
for  fear  one  of  the  rhinoceroses  might  surprise  us. 
Lookouts  were  already  stationed  to  catch  the  sounds 
of  the  beasts  as  they  broke  through  the  jungle,  com- 
ing to  their  bath. 

One  morning  a  native  came  running  with  the 
news  that  a  rhinoceros  was  trapped.  We  gathered 
our  tools  and  hurried  off  to  the  puddle.  There, 
grunting  and  fighting,  lay  a  two-ton  rhinoceros, 
firmly  wedged  in  and  helpless.  When  he  saw  us,  he 
became  furious,  squirming  in  the  slime  of  the  pit, 
pounding  with  his  feet  and  grunting. 

I  divided  my  crew,  putting  half  at  building  a 
cage  of  heavy  timbers  and  the  others  at  digging 
away  the  ground  in  front  of  the  beast.  By  the  time 
the  cage  was  put  together  and  bound  securely  with 
rattan,  we  had  an  incline  running  down  to  the  pit, 
with  two  feet  of  earth  walling  the  rhinoceros  in. 
Then  we  placed  skids  on  the  incline  and  let  the  cage 


ii6  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

slide  down.  A  native,  who  had  been  sent  back  to 
the  nearest  kampong,  or  native  village,  to  recruit 
men  and  water-buffaloes,  had  soon  returned  with  a 
score  of  other  natives,  driving  six  water-buffaloes 
before  them.  Then  I  went  through  the  usual  busi- 
ness of  holding  a  meeting  and  explaining  carefully, 
in  the  greatest  detail,  exactly  what  we  were  about 
to  do  and  how  we  were  to  do  it ;  what  each  man  was 
to  do  and  when  and  how.  When  they  understood 
perfectly,  we  set  about  digging  away  the  wall  that 
separated  the  rhinoceros  from  the  open  end  of  the 
cage.  With  a  little  more  than  one  foot  of  earth 
remaining,  we  began  to  prod  him.  The  immense 
beast  pounded  his  feet  on  the  bottom  of  the  pit, 
grunting  and  moving  forward  as  rapidly  as  he 
could  get  foothold.  He  put  his  head  against  the 
wall  and  rooted;  the  wall  toppled  over  and  he 
lurched  out  of  the  pit  and  into  the  cage.  The  na- 
tives slipped  the  end-bar  into  place. 

The  capture  was  finished — but  not  the  work.  A 
rhinoceros  cannot  be  broken  and  driven  through 
the  jungle  like  an  elephant ;  he  must  be  hauled  every 
foot  of  the  way.  W^ith  the  six  water-buffaloes 
straining  and  every  native  giving  a  hand,  we  pulled 
the  cage  up  the  incline  and  mounted  it  on  the  run- 
ners. It  took  a  week  of  steady  cutting  to  clear  the 
way,  so  that  we  could  drag  the  cage  to  the  Treng- 
ganu  River.  There  we  built  a  heavy  raft  and 
floated  the  cage  down  to  port.  Another  two  weeks 


"\Ye  began  to  prod  the  rhinoceros.  .  .  .  He  put  his  head 
against  the  wall  and  rooted ;  the  wall  toppled  over  and  he  lurched 
out  of  the  pit  and  into  the  cage." 


passed  before  we  could  ship  the  beast  to  Singapore, 
for  transshipment  to  Perth. 

I  received  for  the  animal  £200,  which  was  about 
one  quarter  of  its  value.  But  it  was  as  much  as  the 
Perth  Zoological  Gardens  could  afford  to  pay,  and 
I  was  glad  to  be  able  to  put  so  fine  a  specimen  into 
the  hands  of  Mr.  La  Souef. 

One  day  when  I  was  busy  in  my  animal  house, 
AH  came  to  me  with  the  message  that  three  natives 
from  Pontianak,  Borneo,  were  outside.  They  had 
something  important  to  tell  me,  Ali  said.  When 
they  came  in,  I  found  that  I  knew  one  of  them;  he 
was  an  animal  trader  from  whom  I  had  bought 
some  birds  and  monkeys.  The  other  two  were  head- 
men from  the  interior  of  Borneo. 

The  headmen  had  gone  to  the  trader  with  the 
story  of  two  large  orang-outangs  that  were  terror- 
izing their  villages,  and  the  trader  was  bringing 
them  to  me  for  advice.  We  sat  down  in  the  shade 
and  discussed  the  situation.  The  orang-outangs 
had  run  off  with  a  young  girl  and  had  recently 
killed  one  of  the  men.  The  natives  had  tried 
repeatedly  to  kill  them,  but  without  success,  and 
now  they  were  afraid  to  venture  into  the  jungle. 

For  several  years  I  had  had  a  standing  order 
from  the  Antwerp  Zoological  Gardens  for  a  good 
specimen  of  orang-outang,  and  I  had  planned  to  go, 
just  as  soon  as  my  health  permitted,  into  Borneo, 
to  see  what  I  could  find.  Orang-outangs  command 
unlimited  prices  because  they  are  so  hard  to  cap- 


ii8  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

ture  and,  once  captured,  so  difficult  to  deliver.  On 
account  of  homesickness  and  sensitiveness  to  cli- 
matic changes,  they  die  quickly  in  captivity.  A 
caged  orang-outang  loses  his  spirit  immediately ;  he 
sits  brooding  over  his  capture  and  often  refuses 
all  food.  On  one  occasion  I  shipped  eighteen  small 
and  medium-sized  orang-outangs  to  San  Francisco, 
hoping  to  land  two  or  three  alive,  but  they  all  died 
before  reaching  port.  If  I  had  been  able  to  deliver 
a  good  specimen  in  the  United  States,  I  could  have 
sold  it  for  $5,000. 

But  here  were  two  full-grown  beasts,  already 
located,  and  waiting  for  me  to  try  my  hand  at  cap- 
turing them.  I  was  greatly  interested  in  the  story 
the  two  headmen  had  to  tell,  and  I  spent  the  entire 
afternoon  in  listening  to  them  and  asking  them  all 
manner  of  questions.  They  described  the  country 
where  the  orang-outangs  made  their  home,  and 
promised  as  many  men  as  I  needed. 

I  impressed  them  with  the  fact  that  I  was  not 
anxious  to  make  the  trip,  and  I  made  them  promise, 
as  a  first  consideration,  that  they  would  use  all 
their  power  to  prevent  the  natives  from  killing  the 
animals  if  I  captured  them.  I  feared  that  the  resent- 
ment of  the  natives  against  the  orang-outangs 
might  lead  them  to  kill  the  animals  for  revenge, 
even  after  I  had  them  safely  caged.  They  agreed 
to  do  as  I  requested  and  once  again  begged  me  to 
return  with  them.  I  told  them  to  come  back  the 
next  day  and  talk  with  me  again.  I  had  already 


made  up  my  mind,  but  it  is  always  well  to  let  a 
native  think  that  one  has  not  quite  decided. 

When  I  went  to  see  the  Dutch  Consul-General 
and  explained  the  situation,  he  issued  passports  for 
me,  and,  accompanied  by  the  two  headmen,  the 
trader,  Ali  and  my  coolie  boy,  I  took  the  next 
steamer  to  Pontianak.  At  Pontianak,  I  presented 
my  credentials  to  the  Dutch  Resident.  He  was 
pleased  to  hear  that  I  was  going  after  the  orang- 
outangs and  he  offered  to  let  me  have  as  many 
native  officials  as  I  wished  to  take  along.  I  thanked 
him  and  declined  his  offer,  explaining  that  I  really 
did  not  know  as  yet  just  what  I  should  need,  or  how 
long  I  should  be  up-country.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
I  did  not  want  his  native  officials  because  I  knew 
that  the  jungle  people  have  no  love  for  them,  and 
I  wanted  to  have  my  expedition  entirely  clear  of 
everything  that  looked  official. 

We  stayed  there  for  several  days,  getting  sup- 
plies together.  The  trader  remained  with  the  party 
at  my  request,  because  he  was  known  by  both  the 
coast  and  the  jungle  people.  From  a  Chinese  he 
rented  a  houseboat  that  I  could  keep  as  long  as  I 
had  need  of  it.  The  Borneo  houseboats  are  twenty 
to  twenty-five  feet  long  and  five  feet  wide;  they 
have  a  bamboo  shed,  which  makes  a  fairly  comfort- 
able room,  and  are  rowed  or  paddled  by  six  men. 
With  a  mattress  spread  on  the  floor  and  mosquito- 
netting  hung  about,  I  could  take  the  trip  up  the 
river  easily.  Omar,  one  of  the  headmen,  stayed 


120  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

with  me  in  my  boat,  while  Mahommed  Munshee, 
the  other  headman,  went  ahead  with  some  of  the 
stores. 

On  the  way  up  the  river  we  came  to  the  station 
of  Dr.  Van  Erman,  the  Dutch  medical  officer  who 
was  in  charge  of  the  outlying  districts.  He  insisted 
that  I  stay  with  him  for  two  days  at  least,  and  I  was 
glad  to  do  so,  for  he  was  the  last  white  man  I  should 
see  before  we  tackled  the  orang-outangs.  I  was 
anxious  to  have  the  benefit  of  his  knowledge  of  the 
natives  and  the  country,  and  also  I  found  it  reassur- 
ing, under  the  circumstances,  to  have  the  friendship 
of  a  medical  man.  Later,  I  became  his  enforced 
guest  and  I  have  always  been  thankful  for  his  care. 

We  arrived  at  Nanaoh-Pinoh,  which  was  Ma- 
hommed Munshee's  village,  two  days  late.  I  stayed 
at  Munshee's  house  while  the  men  prepared  boats 
for  the  trip  up  the  Melarir  River  to  the  spot  where 
the  orang-outangs  were. 


THE  SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE 
FOLK 

T  T  seemed  to  me,  as  I  waited  in  Mahommed  Mun- 
shee's  village,  that  it  might  be  a  good  plan  to 
establish  a  reputation  among  the  natives  as  a  work- 
er of  wonders.  Fame  as  a  magician  is  easily 
acquired  among  these  people  and  is  of  inestimable 
value  in  handling  them.  For  the  task  that  lay 
before  us,  I  needed  all  their  courage  and  confidence, 
and  I  had  a  feeling  that  they  were  accepting  me 
with  some  doubt.  That  would  never  do,  for,  unless 
I  had  them  under  perfect  control  when  the  hunt 
reached  its  most  exciting  point,  all  our  efforts  might 
be  wasted.  They  showed  proper  awe  of  the  express 
rifle  that  Ali  exhibited  so  proudly,  and  they  took 
fitting  note  of  my  stores,  but  still  they  regarded 
me  simply  as  a  white  man  who  might,  or  might 
not,  be  able  to  do  the  things  he  said  he  was  going 
to  do.  They  were  respectful  and  hospitable,  but 
the  more  I  saw  of  them,  the  more  I  realized  the 
importance  of  doing  some  spectacular  thing  that 
would  distinguish  me  in  their  minds  and  send  tales 
of  my  magic  traveling  through  the  wilderness  of 
jungle.  It  is  astounding,  by  the  way,  how  rapidly 

121 


122  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

news  travels  in  the  jungle.  Many  times,  in  break- 
ing through  virgin  country,  I  have  found  that  the 
news  of  my  coming  had  preceded  me  and  that  the 
natives  knew  all  about  me  and  were  waiting  for 
me.  The  only  explanation  I  could  ever  get  was 
simply,  "Tuan,  we  heard." 

A  good  opportunity  to  impress  the  natives  pre- 
sented itself  one  day  when  I  was  preparing  to  take 
a  plunge  in  the  river.  Munshee  stopped  me,  say- 
ing: "Take  care,  sir.  There  are  crocodiles  in  the 
river."  He  told  me  that  many  natives  had  lost 
their  lives  recently  and  that  men  had  had  their 
arms  snapped  off  while  they  were  paddling  boats. 

I  took  his  advice  and  went  to  the  house  where  my 
supplies  were  stored.  Presently  I  returned  with 
a  stick  of  dynamite  and  a  fuse.  Gathering  the 
natives  around  me,  I  explained*  to  them  that  they 
were  to  line  the  banks  of  the  river  and  prepare  to 
come  out  in  their  boats  when  I  gave  the  signal. 
They  were  entirely  mystified,  for  they  had  never 
heard  of  dynamite. 

Going  up-stream,  I  prepared  the  charge  and  then 
drifted  down,  dropping  it  over.  Wide-eyed  and 
puzzled,  they  watched  the  smoking  fuse  disappear 
into  the  water.  Then  came  a  muffled  explosion, 
which  made  them  jump;  the  water  trembled,  shak- 
ing the  boats  and  frightening  them;  fish  came  to 
the  surface.  I  signaled  and  the  scramble  to  gather 
the  fish  began. 

AH  was  standing  near  me,  ready  to  put  the  rifle 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  123 

into  my  hands,  and  I  strained  my  eyes,  looking  for 
crocodiles.  Suddenly  a  woman  pointed  to  the  op- 
posite bank  and  screamed,  "Buaia  (crocodile)  !" 

I  yelled  to  Munshee  to  take  his  men  down-stream 
and  keep  them  quiet  and  on  the  alert ;  then  I  directed 
my  boat  above  the  spot  where  the  woman  had 
pointed.  I  dropped  another  stick  of  dynamite  over- 
board. A  few  seconds  later,  the  belly  of  a  crocodile 
appeared  on  the  surface,  its  feet  and  tail  moved 
feebly.  It  was  stunned  by  the  explosion — mabok 
(drunk),  as  the  natives  say 

I  took  my  gun  and  put  two  bullets  into  its  belly. 
Before  it  could  sink,  Ali  grabbed  its  tail;  then  we 
made  for  the  shore.  The  natives  gathered  about, 
wildly  excited,  and  Mahommed  Munshee  was  the 
proudest  man  in  the  village.  He  had  vouched  for 
my  abilities  and  I  had  proved  my  possession  of 
the  powers  that  he  claimed  for  me.  It  was  hobat-an 
(magic). 

The  crocodile  measured  fifteen  feet,  four  inches, 
and  was  twenty-five  years  old.  The  natives  could 
tell  its  age  by  counting  the  pebbles  in  its  pouch. 

I  decided  to  stop  at  Munshee's  a  few  days  longer, 
to  have  the  men  gather  rattan  to  make  the  nets, 
and  also  to  talk  with  the  natives  about  orang- 
outangs and  plan  all  the  details  of  the  capture. 
Omar,  the  other  headman,  went  on  up  to  his  vil- 
lage, taking  with  him  as  much  of  our  store  of 
provisions  as  he  could  carry.  I  was  willing  enough 
to  have  him  spread  the  crocodile  story  among  the 


124  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

natives  and  I  knew  that  the  tale  would  not  suffer 
in  the  telling. 

Omar  was  to  determine,  if  possible,  the  exact 
location  of  the  orang-outangs  and  to  make  arrange- 
ments, such  as  engaging  recruits  for  the  hunt,  in 
advance  of  my  arrival.  I  planned  to  have  a  gen- 
eral council  of  all  the  men  who  were  to  take  part 
in  the  work.  Such  a  council  would  have  a  double 
advantage:  in  the  first  place,  it  would  give  me  the 
benefit  of  their  experience,  and  secondly,  it  would 
make  them  feel  that  I  depended  upon  them. 

It  took  us  four  days  to  gather  as  much  rattan 
as  we  could  carry  in  our  boats;  then,  with  thirty 
men,  we  started  up  the  river.  I  found  at  each  vil- 
lage that  Omar  had  done  more  than  justice  to  the 
crocodile  story  and  that  he  had  taken  with  him  a 
select  crew  of  men.  As  in  Trengganu,  the  natives 
felt  that  this  was  to  be  the  great  sporting  event 
of  the  year,  and  they  were  anxious  to  take  part. 
Their  keen  interest  in  the  adventure  made  it  pos- 
sible for  us  to  choose  the  strongest  and  best  of 
them,  together  with  a  few  older  men,  who  knew 
the  jungle. 

Our  boatmen  swung  on  their  paddles  steadily, 
pushing  the  boats  against  the  current.  Solid  banks 
of  foliage  lined  the  sides  of  the  stream,  and,  in 
places,  the  branches  touched  overhead,  making  a 
thick  canopy  that  shaded  us.  In  the  sun,  the  heat 
was  blistering. 

When  we  arrived  at  Omar's  kampong,  the  entire 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  125 

population  was  on  the  banks  to  welcome  us.  Omar 
came  forward  and  announced  that  he  had  recruited 
seventy  men — Malays  and  Dyaks — for  the  hunt 
and  that  he  would  vouch  for  all  of  them.  That 
made  a  crew  of  a  hundred,  counting  the  thirty  who 
came  with  me,  and  we  examined  one  another  curi- 
ously. I  was  the  first  white  man  that  most  of  them 
had  seen. 

Leaving  instructions  that  the  council  was  to  be 
called  for  the  next  morning,  I  went  to  the  house 
that  Omar  had  prepared  for  me.  AH  and  the 
Chinese  boy  accompanied  me  with  my  personal 
equipment,  and  I  sat  talking  with  Omar  while  I 
waited  for  my  bed  to  be  prepared,  so  that  I  could 
get  my  afternoon  nap.  The  men  loitered  outside 
the  house  apparently  waiting  for  something.  I 
knew  what  they  wanted — more  magic.  At  last  a 
deputation  came  with  the  request.  Would  the 
white  man  perform  magic  such  as  he  had  per- 
formed at  the  village  of  Mahommed  Munshee? 

Crocodiles  were  less  plentiful  so  far  up  the  river, 
and  I  was  rather  afraid  that  they  might  be  dis- 
appointed if  I  did  not  at  least  equal  the  former 
exhibition.  The  story,  as  I  have  remarked  before, 
had  grown  wonderfully  in  traveling  up-country. 
But  they  were  determined  to  see  the  "drunken 
fish,"  and  I  decided  that,  before  beginning  work, 
I  should  do  well  to  give  them  some  sort  of 
amusement. 

With  the  two  headmen — they  were  delighted  to 


126  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

show  such  familiarity  with  this  new  sport — assist- 
ing me,  I  stationed  the  natives  on  the  banks  with 
their  boats  and  then  I  went  up-stream  with  the 
dynamite.  There  was  breathless  silence  as  they 
saw  me  strike  a  match  and  touch  it  to  the  fuse. 
When  the  explosion  came,  they  gave  a  shout  and 
darted  out  in  their  boats  to  gather  in  the  fish.  After 
the  excitement  had  subsided,  and  all  the  fish  had 
been  compared  for  size  and  weight,  I  dropped  an- 
other stick.  The  men  enjoyed  the  sport  immensely, 
and  we  made  a  hilarious  afternoon  of  it.  The  most 
sober  person  in  the  village  was  my  coolie  boy,  who, 
as  he  went  quietly  about  his  business  of  arranging 
my  living  quarters,  muttered,  "Semua  gila  (All 
crazy)." 

AH,  who  had  become  a  good  shot,  showed  the 
villagers  my  express  rifle,  and  demonstrated  what 
an  explosive  bullet  could  do  to  the  trunks  of  trees. 
The  men  were  fascinated  by  that  power  of  destruc- 
tion, and  they  passed  their  fingers  reverently 
over  the  barrel  and  listened  to  AH's  stories  while 
he  cleaned  it.  AH  had  traveled  all  over  the  Far 
East  with  me  and  he  gave  marvelous  interpreta- 
tions of  what  he  had  seen.  He  could  hold  an  au- 
dience of  natives  spellbound  for  hours  and,  inci- 
dentally, he  was  an  excellent  publicity  man  for  me. 
In  his  whole-hearted,  childish,  Malay  fashion,  he 
accepted  me  as  the  greatest  man  in  the  world  and 
he  was  never  contented  unless  others  did  so  too. 
He  was  in  great  measure  responsible  for  the  success 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  127 

of  my  expeditions,  for  he  removed  many  an  obstacle 
— sometimes  without  my  knowledge — and  worked 
constantly  to  keep  up  the  enthusiasm  of  the  men. 

I  wanted  the  council  to  be  a  formal  affair,  and  so 
I  had  Omar  sound  the  call  by  striking  on  a  hollow 
log.  The  older  men  took  their  places  first,  squat- 
ting in  a  semi-circle ;  then  the  younger  men  squatted 
behind  them.  The  women  and  children  loitered  on 
the  outskirts  at  a  respectful  distance.  All  of  them 
were  chewing  betel-nut. 

From  the  house,  I  watched  the  council  assemble, 
but  I  did  not  go  out  until  Omar  came  for  me.  Then, 
with  Omar  and  Munshee  walking  beside  me,  I  left 
the  house,  dressed  in  native  costume — Chinese  trou- 
sers, sarong  and  jacket.  The  chattering  ceased  as 
I  approached,  and  all  eyes  were  centered  on  me. 
Every  one  was  visibly  impressed  by  the  fact  that  I 
was  wearing  the  clothes  of  a  native,  and  that  they 
were  of  the  finest  quality,  and  entitled  me  to  much 
consideration. 

The  importance  of  staging  such  an  expedition — 
all  the  "magic,"  the  talk,  the  council  and  the  cos- 
tume— was  not  to  be  underrated.  As  I  have  ex- 
plained before,  the  natives  are  extremely  impres- 
sionable ;  if  they  like  a  man  and  believe  in  him,  they 
will  do  anything  he  asks,  and  if  they  do  not  believe 
in  him,  they  will  run  wild  at  the  moment  when  he 
needs  them  most.  The  orang-outang  hunt  was  the 
most  important  and  difficult  thing  of  its  kind  I  had 
ever  attempted;  it  required  the  greatest  technical 


128  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

proficiency,  because  there  were  numerous  chances 
of  failure  through  little  miscalculations.  Elephant 
driving  is,  after  all,  largely  a  matter  of  simple 
strategy  combined  with  endurance;  and  capturing 
leopards  is  about  on  a  par  with  setting  mouse-traps 
when  compared  with  getting  full-grown  orang- 
outangs into  cages. 

I  squatted  before  the  council  and  talked  long  and 
earnestly  about  the  work  that  lay  before  us.  I  told 
the  villagers  that  I  had  left  important  business  in 
Singapore  at  the  request  of  their  headmen,  to  come 
and  help  them;  that  I  had  hesitated  about  making 
the  trip  and  had  been  persuaded  only  by  the  prom- 
ises of  Omar  and  Mahommed  Munshee  that  every 
assistance  would  be  given  me.  I  explained  that  I 
had  the  permission  of  the  Resident-General  and  that 
he  had  offered  me  men,  but  that  I  had  refused,  be- 
cause I  knew  I  could  depend  on  the  men  of  this 
kampong — they  knew  everything  that  was  to  be 
known  about  the  jungle,  and  the  whole  world  knew 
that  they  were  brave  and  cool-headed.  I  impressed 
upon  them  that  such  work  was  not  to  be  taken  as 
play,  and  that  it  was  a  dangerous  enterprise.  The 
natives  nodded  sagely.  "You  must  be  guided  by 
what  I  say  and  do,"  I  told  them,  "for  I  have  made 
plans.  If  you  do  as  I  tell  you  to  do,  we  shall  be 
successful." 

Then  I  called  upon  the  men  who  had  been  sent 
out  to  locate  the  orang-outangs.  They  had  found 
them  about  two  hours'  distance  from  the  village; 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  129 

they  described  the  location  and  told  how  it  could  be 
reached.  A  general  discussion  followed.  I  gave 
each  man  a  chance  to  express  his  ideas.  They  all 
wanted  to  talk — preferably  all  at  the  same  time — 
and  the  council  dragged  on  for  hours.  With  the 
assistance  of  Omar,  I  kept  the  debate  orderly,  and 
we  listened  to  all  sorts  of  opinions. 

For  the  most  part,  they  felt  that  it  would  be 
necessary  to  kill  the  animals.  That,  of  course,  was 
the  last  thing  in  the  world  that  I  wanted.  It  would 
mean  that  the  expedition  was  wasted  effort:  there 
are  few  live  orang-outangs  in  zoological  gardens, 
but  many  stuffed  ones  in  museums.  I  did  not  agree 
with  the  idea  that  we  should  have  to  kill  the  animals 
but  I  did  not  entirely  disagree.  We  compromised 
by  reaching  the  decision  that,  if  they  must  be  killed, 
I  should  do  the  work  and  no  man  should  try  to  kill 
them  without  my  consent.  The  natives  had  seen 
what  one  bullet  from  my  rifle  would  do  to  a  tree, 
and  they  were  convinced  that  an  orang-outang 
would  stand  a  poor  chance. 

The  council  broke  up  and  work  began.  I  had 
Omar  set  some  of  his  men  to  making  strong  nets 
of  twisted  rattan.  He  drew  plans  for  the  two  cages 
and  had  other  men  gather  the  limbs  of  trees  for 
them.  The  cages  were  just  large  enough  to  hold 
the  animals  and  small  enough  to  keep  them  from 
getting  any  leverage  on  the  bars.  After  the  skele- 
tons of  the  cages  were  built,  they  were  bound  tightly 
writh  rattan  ropes  so  that,  even  if  the  bars  were 


130  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

broken,  the  orang-outangs  would  be  in  a  network. 

The  strength  of  a  full-grown  orang-outang  is 
enormous.  I  have  seen  one  bend  a  one-inch  steel 
bar  as  though  it  were  made  of  rubber.  If  he  can 
brace  himself  properly,  with  plenty  of  room  to  exert 
his  entire  strength,  he  can  bend  almost  anything; 
but  between  bending  a  bar  and  breaking  a  rope  by 
pulling,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  difference.  A  rat- 
tan rope  will  hold  him,  though  a  simple  menagerie 
cage  may  not  give  him  anv  more  trouble  than  a 
paper  hoop. 

The  strength  of  the  orang-outang,  or  "wild 
man,"  as  the  name  means  in  Malay,  is  largely  in 
his  arms.  The  arms  of  a  mias — the  breed  that  we 
were  after — measure  ten  feet  or  more  from  tip  to 
tip.  The  mias  type,  which  is  next  in  size  to  the 
gorilla,  is  somewhat  larger  than  the  ordinary  breed. 
It  is  distinguished  by  a  darker  color  and  by  folds 
of  skin  at  each  side  of  the  face.  Its  body,  from 
shoulders  to  hips,  is  about  the  size  of  a  man's.  It 
has  short,  undeveloped  legs,  long  fingers  and 
thumbs  that  are  mere  stubs. 

An  orang-outang  never  travels  on  the  ground 
when  he  can  swing  from  tree  to  tree,  since  there 
are  very  few  open  spaces  in  the  jungle,  he  seldom 
reaches  the  ground  except  when  he  goes  down  to 
get  something.  He  can  swing  incredible  distances, 
hurtling  through  the  air  and  catching  branches 
with  perfect  accuracy. 

Orang-outangs  usually  live  in  colonies  number- 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  131 

ing  from  forty  to  sixty,  and  the  largest  and  most 
powerful  is  chief.  They  make  their  homes  on  plat- 
forms by  breaking  off  limbs  and  putting  them  criss- 
cross. In  mating  season  the  male  and  female  live 
together,  but  the  couples  separate  after  the  young 
are  born.  The  mother  takes  care  of  them  and  the 
father  goes  off  about  his  business. 

As  they  do  in  the  case  of  most  dangerous  ani- 
mals, the  native  collectors  hunt  orang-outangs  by 
killing  the  mother  and  taking  the  young.  The 
weapon  they  most  often  use,  except  when  they  have 
guns,  is  the  blow-pipe,  which,  in  the  hands  of  an 
expert,  is  not  to  be  despised.  It  is  a  long,  slender 
tube,  measuring  from  six  to  eight  feet,  made  from 
a  single  joint  of  a  rare  bamboo.  The  tube  is  allowed 
to  dry  and  harden  and  is  wrapped  tightly  with  rat- 
tan. The  darts,  which  are  about  the  size  of  a  steel 
knitting-needle,  are  made  from  the  midribs  of  palm- 
leaves,  and  at  one  end  there  is  a  small  conical  butt, 
which  fits  tightly  into  the  bore  of  the  pipe.  A  small 
nick  is  made  in  the  shaft  of  the  dart  just  below 
the  point,  and  the  end  is  coated  with  a  deadly  poison 
made  from  the  sap  of  the  upas-tree  and  another 
species  of  the  genus  Ipo.  When  the  dart  strikes, 
the  end  breaks  off  and  remains  in  the  wound;  the 
poison  acts  rapidly,  first  paralyzing,  then  killing 
the  victim.  In  warfare,  also,  the  natives  poison 
kris  and  spear,  and  the  wound  is  invariably  fatal. 

Fighting  a  full-grown  orang-outang  with  weap- 
ons so  primitive  is  extremely  hazardous  work,  and 


i32  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

the  natives  avoid  it  except  when  a  beast  becomes  a 
menace  to  the  village.  An  orang-outang  in  battle 
is  ferocious.  If  it  is  treed  and  afraid  to  come  down, 
it  goes  into  a  paroxysm  of  fury.  It  will  bite  its 
arms,  tearing  the  flesh  away  and  inflicting  frightful 
wounds.  If  there  are  two  of  the  animals,  they  bite 
and  hug  each  other.  An  orang-outang  that  has 
been  struck  by  an  arrow  can  follow  the  natives  in 
the  trees  or  on  the  ground  while  the  poison  is  taking 
effect.  The  only  refuge  from  the  frenzied  creature 
is  the  smoke  of  a  fire,  and,  when  it  is  sufficiently 
enraged,  even  that  will  not  stop  it.  The  best  chance 
lies  in  keeping  it  so  harried  that  it  does  not  know 
whom  to  attack ;  once  it  decides  on  a  particular  na- 
tive, the  native  is  as  good  as  dead.  When  the  poison 
begins  to  work,  after  an  animal  has  been  wounded, 
the  natives  end  the  fight  with  knives.  The  possibil- 
ity of  an  orang-outang  attack  is  a  danger  that  all 
the  men  must  be  prepared  to  face,  and  the  duty  of 
engaging  in  an  orang-outang  hunt  is  no  less  im- 
portant than  that  of  making  war.  It  was  but 
normal,  therefore,  that,  as  soon  as  I  had  convinced 
the  villagers  of  my  trustworthiness,  I  should  have 
their  hearty  support. 

After  putting  the  men  to  work  on  the  nets  and 
cages,  I  selected  a  crew  of  twenty-five  to  accompany 
me  while  I  went  out  to  get  the  lay  of  the  land.  I 
warned  the  men  against  doing  anything  that  might 
frighten  the  animals  unnecessarily  and  explained 
that  we  should  do  no  hunting  for  smaller  game  until 


we  had  attended  to  the  two  big  orang-outangs. 
With  the  guides  leading,  we  started  into  the  dense 
jungle,  and,  after  several  hours  of  slow,  tortuous 
traveling,  we  came  to  the  tree  where  the  animals 
lived.  I  could  see,  far  up,  the  platform  they  had 
built. 

Fortunately  the  orang-outangs  were  not  there, 
and  we  were  able  to  inspect  the  location  at  our  leis- 
ure. I  stationed  the  men  at  one  side,  telling  them 
to  wait  for  us,  and  then  Omar  and  Munshee  and  I 
circled  the  tree.  The  surrounding  jungle  was  as 
thick  as  any  I  have  ever  seen;  the  trees  were  so 
close  that  their  branches  mingled  and  they  were 
woven  togther  with  creepers,  vines  and  rattan.  It 
was  not  possible  to  go  forward  a  step  without  cut- 
ting the  way.  The  tree  in  which  the  orang-outangs 
lived  was  the  largest  in  the  vicinity.  Nearly  an 
hour  passed  before  I  decided  upon  the  course  we 
would  pursue.  Squatting  with  Omar  and  Munshee, 
I  explained  how  we  would  cut  away  the  trees,  so  as 
to  leave  in  isolation  the  one  in  which  the  animals 
had  their  platform;  then,  how  we  would  cut  that 
tree  and  tumble  them  into  the  net. 

We  went  back  to  the  place  where  the  men  were 
waiting,  and  I  put  them  to  work  at  cutting  the  mass 
of  creepers  that  bound  the  trees  together.  The  jun- 
gle was  so  dense  that  it  would  have  been  impossible 
to  fell  the  trees  without  first  cutting  the  network 
woven  between  them;  for  it  would  have  held  the 
trees  upright  even  though  they  were  cut  at  the  base. 


134  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

Without  tearing  the  creepers  to  the  ground,  we  cut 
back  as  far  as  sixty  feet  on  all  sides.  I  estimated 
that  the  trees  beyond  would  be  well  out  of  swinging 
distance  for  the  orangs.  At  the  point  where  I 
planned  to  have  the  big  tree  drop,  I  had  an  addi- 
tional thirty  feet  cut.  Then,  when  the  creepers  were 
all  simply  hanging,  we  began  work  on  the  trees. 

First-rate  native  jungle  men  use  their  parangs 
with  astounding  rapidity  and  accuracy.  I  doubt  if 
there  are  any  finer  woodsmen  in  the  world.  Their 
greatest  fault  is  that  they  like  to  stop  working  in 
order  to  talk.  Omar,  Munshee  and  I,  knowing  this 
weakness  for  conversation,  circled  through  the  jun- 
gle constantly,  urging  our  men  on.  Partly  as  a 
result  of  this  watchfulness,  perhaps,  I  have  never 
seen  natives  do  a  piece  of  work  more  neatly  and 
rapidly.  It  was  vitally  important,  of  course,  that 
we  finish  before  the  big  fellows  came  swinging  back 
home. 

The  trees  were  cut  so  that  they  remained  stand- 
ing. We  were  trying  to  achieve  something  like  a 
flimsy  structure  built  of  cards  or  dominoes,  which 
one  push  will  send  toppling.  At  a  signal,  every  tree 
in  the  circle  I  had  mapped  out  was  to  fall,  those 
at  the  center,  first,  and  the  others  in  order,  until  the 
one  in  which  the  orang-outangs  had  their  platform 
was  isolated.  It  was  a  nice  problem  in  jungle-craft 
to  cut  the  trees  so  that  they  would  bear  the  weight 
of  animals  swinging  in  the  branches,  and  yet  be  so 
weak  that  they  would  all  fall — and  in  the  proper 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  135 

directions — when  we  started  them  by  pulling  on  the 
ropes.  I  allowed  myself  to  be  guided  entirely  by 
the  judgment  of  the  natives;  they  appreciated  my 
confidence  and  took  care  to  see  that  the  work  was 
done  accurately. 

The  hacking  of  the  parangs  and  the  conversation 
attracted  hundreds  of  jungle  animals,  including 
many  of  the  smaller  orang-outangs.  We  did  not 
molest  them,  and  they  grew  bolder,  until  we  had  a 
large,  chattering,  screaming  audience  watching  us 
work. 

Long  before  the  two  big  brutes  came  back  to 
their  home,  we  were  on  our  way  to  Omar's  kam- 
pong,  with  the  first  stage  of  the  work  completed. 
The  jungle  as  we  left  it  did  not  appear  greatly  dif- 
ferent from  the  way  it  looked  when  we  arrived.  I 
knew  that  the  orang-outangs  would  realize  that 
some  one  had  been  there,  and  yet  I  was  fairly  cer- 
tain that  the  absence  of  human  beings  would  re- 
assure them.  And,  too,  they  would  have  several 
days  to  accustom  themselves  to  whatever  changes 
they  noticed. 

At  the  kampong,  I  called  the  men  together  again, 
this  time  for  an  informal  council.  I  told  them  that 
I  had  considered  carefully  everything  they  had  said 
the  day  before,  and  that,  after  inspecting  the  loca- 
tion, I  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  we  could 
easily  capture  the  animals.  It  would  be  simply  a 
matter  of  rapid  work  and  of  each  man's  thoroughly 
understanding  his  job.  Drawing  a  circle  on  the 


136  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

ground  and  planting  a  stick  in  the  middle,  I  ex- 
plained what  we  were  to  do  and  how  we  were  to  do 
it.  Then  I  told  them  how  we  had  cut  the  creepers 
and  prepared  the  trees. 

During  the  next  four  days  we  avoided  the  loca- 
tion as  much  as  possible.  Crews  of  men,  bearing 
bundles  of  dry  grass  and  bushes,  approached  within 
five  hundred  feet,  dropped  their  bundles  and  re- 
turned to  the  village.  The  grass  and  bushes  were 
to  be  used  for  the  fire  I  planned  to  build  at  the  base 
of  the  tree,  once  the  orang-outangs  were  isolated 
there.  We  took  care  never  to  go  near  when  the  big 
fellows  were  at  home,  and  the  other  jungle  crea- 
tures grew  less  and  less  perturbed  each  time  we 
appeared. 

I  remained  at  the  kampong,  supervising  the 
making  of  the  nets  and  cages.  The  entire  popula- 
tion helped  us,  and  I  put  some  of  the  people  to  work 
at  making  smaller  cages  and  rigging  snares  for 
other  animals.  Finally,  when  the  nets  and  cages 
were  ready  and  the  material  for  the  fire  gathered 
and  in  place,  I  began  drilling  the  men  in  their  parts. 
Thirty  men  were  detailed  to  the  work  of  pulling 
down  the  trees  in  the  circle;  ten  men  to  clearing 
the  space  where  the  big  tree  was  to  fall;  and  ten 
men  to  handling  each  side  of  the  big  net.  It  was 
upon  the  last-named  crew  that  the  success  of  the 
attack  rested,  for  any  mistake  or  delay  in  manipu- 
lating the  net  would  mean  that  the  animals  would 
escape — even  probably  with  disastrous  results. 


Omar  and  Munshee  helped  me  select  the  men  from 
the  number  of  those  who  had  previously  demon- 
strated their  courage  and  resourcefulness  in  the 
face  of  danger.  I  had  a  long  pole  put  up  near  the 
village,  and  we  rehearsed  the  capture  innumerable 
times :  the  pole  would  fall,  and  the  men  would  cast 
the  net  and  secure  it  over  the  bunch  of  grass  tied 
to  the  top  to  represent  the  orang-outangs.  We  re- 
peated that  performance  for  several  days,  and  I 
always  stood  by  with  my  rifle  in  my  hands  as  if  I 
were  ready  to  put  an  explosive  bullet  into  the  bun- 
dle of  grass,  if  it  tried  to  escape. 

When  they  had  played  the  part  so  many  times 
that  there  seemed  to  be  no  chance  of  a  blunder,  we 
had  a  full  rehearsal.  As  the  pole  fell,  this  time, 
the  other  men  closed  in,  beating  with  the  clubs, 
pounding  tom-toms  and  yelling.  I  wanted  them  to 
make  just  as  much  noise  as  possible  when  the  orangs 
came  down ;  for  noise  paralyzes  animals  with  fright 
and  makes  them  easier  to  handle. 

On  the  eighth  night  at  Omar's  village,  I  called 
all  the  men  together  and  announced  that  we  would 
start  next  morning  before  daybreak.  Once  again 
I  made  them  promise  that  they  would  not  kill  the 
beasts  without  my  permission,  and  I,  in  turn,  prom- 
ised them  that  I  would  shoot  if  there  was  the  least 
danger.  Long  before  daybreak  the  village  was 
astir.  All  those  who  were  to  take  no  part  in  the 
hunt  were  ordered  to  stay  behind,  and  they  stood 
silently  watching  us  while  the  men  shouldered  the 


138  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

nets  and  ropes  and  filed  into  the  jungle  blackness. 

By  the  time  it  was  light,  each  man  was  at  his 
post,  waiting  for  me  to  fire  my  pistol  as  a  signal. 
We  could  see  the  two  orang-outangs  sleeping  on 
their  platform. 

The  men  who  were  to  give  the  trees  the  final  cut 
and  send  them  toppling  over  stole  forward  silently. 
Ali  was  beside  me,  carrying  my  rifle;  Omar  and 
Munshee  were  stationed  near,  one  at  each  side.  I 
waited,  scarcely  daring  to  breathe,  for  them  to  sig- 
nal that  their  men  were  ready.  Ali  was  intently 
watching  the  orangs,  to  warn  me  if  they  stirred. 

Omar  moved  first ;  then  Munshee.  I  gave  a  quick 
glance  around  and  fired  my  pistol.  Instantly  the 
tumult  started;  the  men  yelled  and  beat  upon  tom- 
toms and  trees.  The  orang-outangs  leaped  up  be- 
wildered and  scrambled  about  their  platform. 
Through  the  noise  I  could  hear  the  men  at  work 
with  their  parangs ;  then  came  the  crashing  of  trees. 
The  jungle  seemed  to  fold  up,  and  the  big  tree  stood 
alone.  The  orangs  screamed  and  hugged  each 
other.  Men  rushed  forward  with  the  bundles  of  dry 
grass  and  started  the  fire;  others  came  with  wet 
leaves  to  make  a  smudge.  One  of  the  orangs  start- 
ed, as  if  to  come  down,  and  I  reached  for  my  rifle; 
but  when  the  smoke  struck  him,  he  went  back  to 
the  platform,  screaming  and  tearing  the  tree.  Then, 
as  the  smoke  became  more  dense,  the  two  animals 
climbed  higher  and  sat  on  the  topmost  limb,  arms 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  139 

and  legs  wrapped  around  each  other,  completely 
terrified. 

The  natives  danced  and  yelled.  Through  the 
clouds  of  smoke  that  drifted  over  us,  I  could  see 
their  black  bodies  flashing,  arms  waving,  and  lips, 
stained  crimson  with  betel-nut,  wide  open.  The  din 
was  terrific.  For  several  minutes  I  just  stood  there, 
unable  to  move. 

The  orang-outangs,  high  up  in  the  tree,  were 
huddled  together,  swaying  back  and  forth.  Omar 
came  with  the  message  that  the  space  was  cleared 
for  the  tree  to  fall;  I  ordered  the  net  carried  to 
position  and  sent  the  two  headmen  to  place  the 
natives  at  their  posts. 

Dense  clouds  of  smoke  rolled  up  from  the 
smudges,  enveloping  the  tree  completely  and  hid- 
ing the  orang-outangs,  who  perched  aloft,  scream- 
ing and  coughing.  I  could  get  occasional  glimpses 
of  them,  as  they  sat  there,  hugging  each  other. 

The  big  rattan  nets  were  in  place,  with  the  men 
holding  them  ready  to  cast  when  the  tree  came 
down.  Other  men,  armed  with  sharp-pointed  poles, 
stood  behind,  to  pin  the  beasts  down  if  the  nets  did 
not  fall  in  the  proper  position.  They  were  so  ex- 
cited that  I  spent  several  minutes  in  casually  walk- 
ing about,  talking  with  them  and  calming  them.  Ali 
trudged  a  few  feet  behind  me,  carrying  my  express 
rifle. 

We  cleared  away  the  litter  of  tree  trunks  and 
creepers  from  the  spot  where  the  big  tree  was  to 


140  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

fall,  so  that  there  might  be  nothing  underfoot  to 
interfere  with  rapid  work;  then  I  gave  the  signal 
for  the  tom-toms.  The  racket  began  again  and  the 
crew  of  men  detailed  to  cutting  the  tree  ran  through 
the  smoke  barrier,  waving  their  parangs  and  shout- 
ing. I  stood  outside,  near  the  net,  watching  the 
orangs  and  keeping  the  men  at  their  stations. 
Omar  was  with  me,  and  Munshee  was  with  the 
men  who  were  doing  the  cutting.  We  could  hear 
the  big  knives  hacking  into  the  tree. 

A  messenger  from  Munshee  came  with  the  word 
that  the  tree  was  ready  to  drop.  I  gave  a  hasty 
glance  around  me,  told  the  men  to  be  on  the  alert 
and  sent  him  back  with  instructions  to  let  the  tree 
fall.  Once  again  through  the  din  of  tom-toms  and 
shouts  we  could  hear  chopping ;  the  tree  swayed  for 
a  moment,  the  orang-outangs  screamed  with  terror 
and  the  men  with  the  nets  crouched,  ready  to  spring. 
Slowly  the  tree  toppled  and  came  down,  gathering 
speed  as  it  fell,  exactly  in  the  spot  we  had  marked. 
When  it  struck,  the  entire  jungle  seemed  to  be  in 
upheaval. 

The  orang-outangs  abruptly  stopped  their  out- 
cry. As  they  hit  the  ground,  they  were  paralyzed 
with  fright.  A  net  went  sailing  over  them.  In  an 
instant  they  came  to  their  senses  and  began  fighting. 
With  long,  black,  powerful  arms  they  lashed  at  the 
rattan ;  they  leaped  and  struggled,  biting  the  ropes 
and  tearing  great  gashes  in  their  bodies.  They 
screamed  and  chattered  furiously.  One  of  them 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  141 

reached  out  and  grabbed  a  native  by  the  throat, 
whipping  him  through  the  air  and  breaking  his 
neck.  The  native  struck  the  ground  several  yards 
away,  blood  pouring  from  his  nose  and  mouth. 

I  yelled  to  the  men  to  cast  the  second  net  and 
secure  it  to  the  trees.  The  orangs  kept  up  a  con- 
stant battle,  lashing  and  heaving  under  the  ropes 
that  pressed  them  to  the  ground.  Their  arms  and 
legs  became  entangled  in  the  meshes  of  the  nets, 
and  they  wasted  their  strength  in  wrenching  and 
squirming,  while  we  fastened  them  down.  The 
natives,  crazy  with  excitement,  pressed  in,  tumbling 
over  one  another. 

Our  material  had  been  put  to  the  greatest  test  and 
would  hold  the  animals,  I  knew,  for  they  could  not 
again  equal  the  struggle  of  the  first  few  minutes. 
So,  because  I  wanted  them  to  have  room  to  become 
thoroughly  tangled  in  the  nets,  I  ordered  the  ropes 
slackened  a  trifle. 

Just  then,  while  I  was  standing  near  the  nets, 
superintending  the  work  of  making  them  fast,  a 
huge  paw  shot  out  and  grabbed  my  ankle.  I  was 
jerked  off  the  ground  and,  as  I  fell,  my  hands 
caught  the  limb  of  a  tree.  I  clung  to  it  with  all 
my  strength,  feeling  my  fingers  weaken  and  slip 
while  the  brute  pulled.  The  joints  at  my  hip  and 
knee  pained  me  for  an  instant ;  then  my  leg  became 
numb.  The  men  stood  terrified  and  I  could  not  yell 
at  them!  I  felt  myself  growing  dizzy  and  I  simply 
wondered  why  some  one  did  not  do  something. 


142  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

Then  Omar  grabbed  a  club  and  pounded  the  orang's 
arm;  the  pulling  stopped,  and  I  realized  that  I  was 
being  dragged  away  from  the  nets.  For  several 
minutes  I  was  too  groggy  to  know  what  was  hap- 
pening, but  the  idea  that  the  natives  might  kill  the 
orang-outangs  while  I  was  disabled  made  me  sit  up. 
They  were  standing  there,  looking  first  at  me  and 
then  at  the  animals,  wondering  what  to  do.  I  told 
them  I  was  all  right  and  I  began  feeling  my  leg. 
It  was  not  broken,  but  it  had  been  so  badly  wrenched 
that  I  could  not  stand  on  it. 

While  I  sat  on  the  ground  directing  the  work, 
the  men  gathered  the  outside  meshes  of  the  nets 
and  ran  a  rope  through  them.  Then,  as  the  other 
ropes  were  loosened,  they  pulled  the  noose  close,  and 
the  two  brutes  were  in  a  sack.  For  the  first  time, 
I  had  an  opportunity  to  examine  our  catch;  they 
were  the  two  biggest  orang-outangs  ever  captured 
in  Borneo. 

Gradually  they  exhausted  themselves  and  gave 
up  the  struggle.  They  peered  out  through  the 
meshes,  snarling  at  the  men  who  came  near  them 
and  sometimes  shooting  out  a  long  arm  with  the 
fingers  opening  and  closing.  The  natives  squatted 
about  in  a  circle,  watching  the  animals  and  laugh- 
ing. 

When  the  men  had  rested,  I  had  them  build  two 
litters  of  boughs — one  for  the  dead  man  and  the 
other  for  me.  Then  we  strung  the  net  on  three 
long  poles,  to  be  carried  by  twelve  men,  and  started 


"A  huge  paw  shot  out  and  grabbed  my  ankle.  I  was  jerked 
off  the  ground,  and,  as  I  fell,  my  hands  caught  the  limb  of  a 
tree.  .  .  .  The  brute  pulled.  I  felt  myself  growing  dizzy.  .  .  . 
Then  Omar  grabbed  a  club  and  pounded  the  Orang's  arm." 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  143 

back  to  the  village.  Messengers  went  on  ahead  to 
tell  the  people  of  the  kampong  of  our  success.  I 
headed  the  procession ;  then  came  the  orang-outangs 
with  natives  dancing  around  them  and  beating  tom- 
toms ;  then  the  dead  man.  It  was  necessary  to  stop 
often  to  change  the  crews  that  were  carrying  the 
litters  and  animals — they  weighed  over  five  hun- 
dred pounds — and  the  entire  population  of  Omar's 
kampong  came  out  to  meet  us  in  the  jungle  before 
we  had  covered  half  the  distance.  My  coolie  boy, 
who  had  remained  at  the  village,  was  ahead  of  them 
all.  He  was  one  of  the  fastest  rickshaw  men  I  have 
ever  seen,  and  his  old  training  came  in  handy  that 
day.  He  wanted  to  carry  me  in  his  arms  back  to 
the  village,  but  I  told  him  to  run  back  and  put  some 
water  on  to  boil  for  me. 

I  left  Omar  and  Munshee  in  charge  of  the  orangs 
and  had  my  men  hurry  ahead  with  me,  for  my  leg 
was  paining  me  intensely  and  I  could  feel  the  fever 
coming  on.  I  had  many  things  to  do  before  I  could 
afford  to  be  sick,  and  I  did  not  want  to  lose  any 
time.  For  one  thing,  I  realized  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  get  the  animals  into  separate  cages 
and  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  build  a  larger 
cage  before  we  could  take  them  from  the  nets.  It 
would  be  too  dangerous  to  leave  them  in  the  nets 
overnight,  for  they  might  chew  their  way  out. 

At  the  village  I  found  that  my  boy  had  laid  out 
my  medicine  kit.  I  soaked  my  leg  in  hot  water 
and  massaged  it ;  then  we  painted  it  with  iodine  and 


144  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

bandaged  it  tight.  By  the  time  the  procession 
arrived,  I  was  ready  to  give  Omar  and  Munshee 
orders  about  the  new  cage. 

While  the  women  prepared  the  feast  of  chicken, 
rice  and  sugar-cakes,  the  men  went  into  the  jungle 
again  and  cut  logs  eight  feet  long  and  from  six  to 
eight  inches  in  diameter.  These  they  drove  two 
feet  into  the  ground,  placing  them  not  more  than 
three  inches  apart,  so  as  to  form  a  cage  eight  feet 
long  and  three  feet  wide.  Then  they  bound  them 
together  tightly  with  rattan  ropes,  and  made  and 
lashed  down  a  strong  roof  of  logs.  One  end  of  the 
cage  was  left  open  for  the  animals  to  enter. 

Propped  up  on  my  litter,  I  directed  the  work; 
then  I  was  carried  while  I  made  a  careful  inspec- 
tion of  it.  When  the  cage  was  ready,  the  orang- 
outangs were  brought  up  to  the  open  end,  the  poles 
were  drawn  out  and  the  slip-knot  of  the  outer  net 
was  loosened.  By  using  poles  and  working  at  a 
respectful  distance,  the  men  forced  into  the  cage  the 
single  net  containing  the  animals;  then  they  drove 
the  end-bars  into  the  ground  and  lashed  thenl 
Finally,  by  working  between  the  bars,  they  loosened 
the  slip-knot  of  the  net  and  left  the  orang-outangs 
free  to  untangle  themselves. 

By  the  time  the  job  was  finished,  I  was  exhausted 
by  the  fever,  and  my  leg  was  paining  me  unbear- 
ably. I  thanked  the  men  for  their  good  work  and 
was  carried  back  to  Omar's  house.  The  people 
were  disappointed  that  I  could  not  take  part  in  the 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  145 

great  celebration  they  were  preparing,  and  deputa- 
tions arrived  at  the  house  to  ask  if  they  could  do 
anything  for  me.  In  a  hundred  different  ways  they 
showed  their  concern  for  me  and  their  kindness, 
and  I  know  that  they  would  have  dispensed  gladly 
with  their  merrymaking  if  I  had  intimated  that  the 
noise  might  keep  me  awake.  Sleep  was,  of  course, 
out  of  the  question,  but  not  because  of  the  noise; 
my  leg  was  puffed  and  swollen,  and  the  fever  was 
growing  worse.  Outside,  I  could  hear  the  people 
celebrating.  The  ceremonies  began  with  the  funeral 
of  the  man  that  had  been  killed  and  they  lasted  until 
daybreak. 

In  the  morning  I  sent  for  Munshee  and  told  him 
that  it  would  be  necessary  for  me  to  go  down  the 
river  to  Sintang,  where  Dr.  Van  Erman  lived.  He 
selected  four  of  his  fastest  boatmen  and  sent  them 
off  to  the  doctor  with  the  message  that  I  was  com- 
ing. Their  orders  were  that  they  might  stop  at 
Nanaoh-Pinoh  to  eat,  but  that  they  were  not  to  rest 
until  the  message  was  delivered.  Just  as  soon  as 
they  were  out  of  the  way,  Munshee  turned  to  pre- 
paring a  boat  for  me;  an  awning  made  of  palm- 
leaves  was  put  over  the  center  and  a  bed  arranged. 

I  left  Omar  in  charge  of  the  orang-outangs,  with 
AH  to  assist  him.  Ali  objected  to  being  left  behind, 
but  I  explained  to  him  that  he  could  be  of  greatest 
service  to  me  by  staying.  He  was  to  see  that  the 
orang-outangs  were  fed  and  watered  and  to  have 
the  natives  trap  other  animals  for  me.  I  instructed 


146  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

Omar  to  build  a  shed  over  the  cage  and  to  place  a 
fence  around  it,  so  that  none  of  the  natives  could 
venture  too  close. 

When  my  boat  was  ready,  all  the  people  of  the 
kampong  were  on  hand  to  bid  me  good-by  and  wish 
me  a  speedy  recovery.  Munshee  steered  and  six 
men  paddled.  Another  boat  followed  with  my  sup- 
plies. I  went  down  the  river,  thinking  that  I  had 
never  found  a  kinder,  more  hospitable  people  than 
these,  who  are  known  throughout  the  world  as  sav- 
ages and  head-hunters. 

My  fever  grew  worse  and  worse  and  I  became 
delirious.  I  did  not  know  until  later  that  Munshee 
urged  the  men  on,  hour  after  hour,  until  we  over- 
took the  messenger  boat.  The  last  thing  that  I 
remember  of  the  trip  was  that  everything  became 
a  blur.  The  men  who  were  paddling,  the  river  with 
its  green  banks,  Munshee,  the  awning  over  my  head 
and  the  coolie  boy  all  whirled  around  and  grew 
indistinct.  I  was  unconscious  when  we  reached 
Sintang1. 

Two  days  later  I  awoke  in  Dr.  Van  Erman's 
house  and  was  unable  for  some  time  to  realize 
where  I  was  and  why  I  was  there.  The  doctor  came 
in  and  talked  with  me  for  a  few  minutes.  He  said 
that  I  would  be  well  in  two  weeks  and  that  my  leg 
was  not  badly  damaged.  Then  I  drifted  off  to  sleep 
again. 

The  next  day  I  felt  stronger,  and  the  doctor  re- 
peated some  of  the  tales  the  natives  were  telling 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  147 

about  the  capture  of  the  orang-outangs  and  the 
death  of  the  crocodile.  The  stories  had  improved 
with  age,  and  so  I  told  him  what  had  actually  hap- 
pened. 

"Mahommed  Munshee  has  been  waiting  here  for 
you  to  get  well,"  said  the  doctor.  "I  think  he'd  like 
to  see  you — if  you  don't  mind." 

Munshee  came  in,  beaming  with  delight.  Tak- 
ing my  hand  and  pressing  it  to  his  forehead,  he 
told  me  that  only  one  chosen  by  "God  and  Prophet" 
could  recover  from  the  fever  and  the  sickness 
caused  by  the  paw  of  an  orang-outang.  All  of  the 
villagers,  he  said,  had  been  making  offerings  to  the 
different  deities  for  my  recovery,  and  the  people 
would  be  happy  to  hear  that  Tuan  was  well  again. 
I  told  him  that  I  would  return  with  him  to  Omar's 
kampong  within  two  weeks,  and  he  left,  promising 
to  come  for  me. 

The  days  at  Dr.  Van  Erman's  house  passed 
quickly  and  pleasantly.  I  found  him  a  thoroughly 
fine  man,  as  well  as  a  fine  doctor,  and  I  enjoyed  his 
companionship.  Under  his  care  I  rapidly  threw 
off  the  fever,  and  my  leg  healed  so  that  I  could  get 
about  with  little  difficulty.  The  ankle  had  been  dis- 
located by  the  grip  of  the  orang-outang's  paw,  and 
the  tendons  badly  strained. 

By  the  time  Mahommed  Munshee  came  for  me, 
I  was  quite  ready  to  go  up  the  river.  I  had  seen 
enough  of  the  country  to  know  that  the  jungles  were 
full  of  animals,  and  I  wanted  to  capture  as  many 


148  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

as  possible  before  starting  back  for  Singapore. 
Munshee  said  that  the  orang-outangs  were  in  good 
health  and  that  Omar's  men,  working  with  AH,  had 
made  many  captures.  Dr.  Van  Erman  cashed  a 
draft  for  me,  so  that  I  should  have  silver  money  to 
distribute  to  the  natives  who  had  helped  me,  and 
I  started  up  the  river,  promising  to  stop  on  my 
way  down  so  that  the  doctor  could  see  the  animals. 

At  Munshee's  request,  I  stopped  overnight  in  his 
village.  The  people  gave  me  a  royal  welcome  and 
we  had  a  fine  celebration.  The  news  of  my  coming 
went  ahead  of  us,  and  Omar  and  Ali  came  down 
the  river,  meeting  us  two  hours'  distance  below  the 
kampong.  They  gave  me  an  enthusiastic  reception 
and  I  was  touched  by  their  affection.  We  rowed 
on  up  the  river  and,  when  we  reached  Omar's  vil- 
lage, I  found  that  the  people  had  been  busy  for 
days,  preparing  the  festivities  in  honor  of  my 
return. 

After  greeting  the  people,  I  went  directly  to 
the  cage  of  the  orang-outangs.  They  showed  little 
fight,  and  I  was  encouraged  to  find  that  they  were 
not  too  despondent.  I  did  not  want  to  risk  trans- 
porting them  until  they  had  become  thoroughly 
accustomed  to  captivity — or  at  least  as  much  accus- 
tomed to  it  as  is  possible  for  orang-outangs.  For 
homesickness  grips  them  just  as  it  grips  human 
beings,  and  they  become  pitiable  objects.  If  they 
refuse  to  eat,  it  is  scarcely  worth  while  to  spend 
time  and  money  in  transporting  them,  for  seasick- 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  149 

ness  and  the  excitement  of  traveling  will  kill  them. 
I  had  been  lucky  enough  to  find  my  captives  eating 
quietly  and  taking  life  calmly. 

The  celebration  lasted  until  dawn,  but  I  excused 
myself  early  and  went  to  bed.  Omar  explained 
to  his  people  that  I  would  become  ill  again  unless 
I  rested,  and  they  escorted  me  to  the  house  with 
all  the  ceremonious  attention  that  they  would  have 
shown  to  royalty.  I  did  not  appreciate  at  the  time 
quite  how  near  I  was  to  being  a  royal  person  in 
their  eyes ;  but  I  found  out  later  that  AH,  during  my 
absence,  had  been  absolutely  shameless  in  the  tales 
he  told  about  me.  I  habitually  dined  with  sultans 
and  rajas;  I  was  an  exorcist,  renowned  the  world 
over;  I  feared  no  hantu  (ghost)  and,  in  addition, 
to  all  that,  I  was  a  master  of  hobatan  (magic),  who, 
by  using  his  powers,  could  capture  elephants  as  if 
they  were  monkeys.  But,  apart  from  Ali's  stories, 
the  people  liked  me  because  I  had  engineered  the 
capture  of  the  beasts  that  had  been  terrorizing  them. 
And  I  liked  them  better  than  any  other  people  I 
had  met  in  all  my  travels. 

Before  beginning  the  work  of  capturing  other 
animals,  I  turned  my  attention  to  preparing  the 
transportition  cages.  These  were  three  feet  wide, 
three  feet  high  and  five  and  a  half  feet  long — just 
large  enough  to  hold  the  orangs,  without  giving 
them  any  chance  to  wrench  at  the  bars.  They  sat 
clutching  each  other  while  we  placed  the  transporta- 
tion cages  at  each  end  of  the  big  cage.  Occasionally 


150  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

they  snarled  at  us  and  reached  out  between  the  bars. 
Natives  armed  with  sharpened  poles  held  them  back. 
Then,  by  poking  and  prodding,  we  separated  them 
and  ran  bars  through  the  center  of  the  big  cage. 
These  operations  excited  the  beasts  so  greatly  that 
we  left  off  work  for  the  day.  The  next  morning 
we  went  to  the  cage  again  and  cut  away  the  end- 
bars  so  that  the  animals  could  enter  their  trans- 
portation cages.  These  gave  them  more  room,  and 
I  stationed  an  extra  guard  over  them  with  instruc- 
tions to  call  me  immediately  if  they  began  to  tear 
at  the  bars.  AH  spent  practically  all  of  his  time 
there,  talking  to  them  and  feeding  them.  Grad- 
ually they  became  accustomed  to  him,  and,  although 
they  were  far  from  accepting  him  as  a  friend,  they 
did  know  him  and  realize  that  he  was  not  there  to 
hurt  or  annoy  them.  All  others,  except  the  head- 
men and  myself,  were  kept  away  from  the  cages. 

Food  was  always  placed  in  the  transportation 
cages,  and,  since  the  animals  were  deprived  of  each 
other's  company,  they  became  accustomed  to  spend- 
ing their  time  in  them.  That,  of  course,  was  exactly 
what  I  wanted,  and  the  prospects  looked  more 
encouraging  each  day. 

We  spent  the  next  two  weeks  in  trapping  and 
snaring,  and  I  kept  the  men  of  the  kampong  busy 
all  the  time,  either  at  collecting  the  animals  or  at 
building  cages  for  them.  I  was  fortunate  enough 
to  get  one  proboscis  monkey.  It  is  a  rare,  long- 
nosed  species,  difficult  to  capture.  My  standing 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  151 

orders  from  zoological  gardens  all  over  the  world 
always  included  one  of  these  creatures,  but  this  was 
the  only  one  I  ever  caught.  We  found  him  hope- 
lessly tangled  in  a  net  we  had  put  up  near  a  water- 
ing place.  He  was  a  fine  specimen,  two  feet  high, 
with  long  arms,  legs  and  tail,  and  a  nose  that  meas- 
ured two  inches. 

Netting  animals  in  the  way  in  which  we  caught 
this  monkey  is  one  of  the  easiest  and  best  modes 
of  collecting.  The  size  of  the  net  and  of  the  meshes 
will  depend  entirely  upon  what  one  hopes  to  cap- 
ture. Our  nets  varied  from  eight  feet  square  to 
fifteen  feet  long  by  ten  feet  wide.  The  meshes 
measured  from  two  to  four  inches.  The  net  is 
placed  at  a  spot  where  animals  are  sure  to  pass; 
it  is  suspended  across  the  trail  and  held  in  place 
by  light  bamboo  poles.  Leaves  and  grass  are  scat- 
tered over  it  until  it  cannot  be  distinguished  from 
the  ground.  When  an  animal  steps  into  it,  the  net 
falls  and  he  begins  to  struggle  instead  of  quietly 
working  his  way  out.  Within  a  minute  he  has  him- 
self so  tangled  in  the  meshes  that  it  is  sometimes 
necessary  to  cut  the  net  to  get  him  out.  One  great 
advantage  connected  with  this  method  of  trapping 
is  that  the  animal  is  never  injured ;  he  simply  wears 
himself  out  and  then,  exhausted,  stays  in  the  net 
until  some  one  comes  along  to  release  him.  A  cat 
animal,  for  example,  comes  running  into  a  net;  its 
feet  catch  and  it  goes  tumbling,  rolling  over  and 
over,  roaring  and  pawing.  In  a  few  seconds  it 


152  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

becomes  so  tangled  that  it  cannot  move  an  inch. 
Its  cries  bring  the  men  who  have  been  posted  as 
lookouts,  and  they  carry  it  back  to  the  kampong 
on  poles. 

Contrary  to  the  general  idea,  cat  animals,  such 
as  tigers  and  leopards,  are  the  easiest  to  catch  in 
traps  as  well  as  nets.  The  work  is  as  simple  as 
baiting  a  rat-trap  and  it  requires  little  sagacity.  A 
box-trap  with  a  spring-door  will  make  a  catch  time 
after  time,  with  no  more  trouble  than  transferring 
the  animal  to  a  transportation  cage  and  rebaiting 
the  trap  with  a  chicken  or  a  small  goat.  It  is  wise 
to  allow  a  fairly  long  runway  between  door  and 
bait  so  that  the  captive  will  not  be  injured  when 
the  door  springs  shut.  After  recovering  from  the 
surprise  of  finding  itself  trapped,  the  animal  eats 
the  bait,  which  supplies  it  with  food  until  the  natives 
come  along  on  their  regular  tours  of  inspection.  It 
is  just  routine  work,  involving  but  little  excitement. 

Among  the  animals  we  captured  while  working 
from  Omar's  kampong  were  three  gibbons,  or  wah- 
wahs.  These  are  also  known  as  flying  gibbons,  be- 
cause they  make  such  long  leaps  from  tree  to  tree. 
They  are  a  tailless  breed  of  monkey,  rather  rare 
and  extremely  difficult  to  catch.  Once  captured, 
they  become  affectionate  pets  and  they  command  a 
good  price  for  that  reason.  They  have  soft,  downy, 
light  brown,  silver-gray  or  yellow  hair,  black  faces 
and  large,  round,  expressive  eyes. 

The  work  of  trapping  and  snaring  went  along 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  153 

steadily  during  the  ten  days  I  spent  with  Omar.  By 
the  time  the  orang-outangs  were  ready  to  travel, 
we  had  three  gibbons,  four  baby  orang-outangs,  one 
proboscis-monkey,  ten  black  monkeys,  eighteen 
long-tailed  monkeys,  twenty-two  pig-tailed  mon- 
keys, three  pythons,  which  averaged  eight  feet  in 
length,  two  sambur  deer,  one  sun-bear,  three  wild- 
cats, four  civet-cats,  four  porcupines,  one  ant-eater 
and  two  armadillos. 

We  slipped  the  bars  over  the  open  ends  of  the 
cages  in  which  the  big  fellows  were  to  travel,  and 
lashed  them  securely  with  rattan  ropes.  Since  the 
boats  at  the  kampong  were  too  small,  I  had  two 
large  rafts  made  of  bamboo  and  I  placed  all  the 
cages  on  them. 

When  everything  was  ready,  we  boarded  the 
boats  and  rafts  and  started  down  the  river.  The 
people  lined  the  banks,  shouting  and  wishing  us  a 
safe  journey;  others  followed  us  in  boats.  At  each 
village,  the  natives  swarmed  out  to  see  the  animals 
and  wish  us  luck.  I  can  still  hear  them  calling: 
"Tuan,  bila  bdlik?  Salam-at  jaldn!  (Sir,  when 
will  you  come  back  ?  Safe  journey ! )  " 

We  stopped  at  Mahommed  Munshee's  village, 
and  then  at  Sintang.  I  found  that  Dr.  Van  Erman 
had  gone  down  to  Pontianak.  Another  swarm  of 
natives  met  us  when  we  arrived  there,  and  I  had 
to  station  my  men  around  the  rafts  to  keep  them 
from  coming  aboard. 

Leaving  Ali  in  charge  of  the  animals,  I  went 


154  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

ashore  and  found  that  a  steamer  was  sailing  for 
Singapore  the  next  morning.  I  made  arrange- 
ments for  shipping,  and  then  went  to  the  Resident's 
house  to  pay  my  respects.  Dr.  Van  Erman  was 
there  and,  after  luncheon,  I  took  the  Resident  and 
the  doctor  out  to  see  my  catch.  The  Resident  was 
profuse  in  his  congratulations  and  he  confirmed  my 
belief  that  the  orang-outangs  were  the  largest  ever 
captured  in  Borneo. 

Omar  and  Munshee  assisted  in  the  work  of  load- 
ing the  crates  on  the  steamer,  because  they  felt 
that  their  obligation  to  me  did  not  end  until  we 
had  the  animals  clear  of  Borneo.  I  felt,  of  course, 
that  I  was  under  obligation  to  them  for  all  the  fine 
work  they  and  their  people  had  done  for  me,  and 
I  wanted  them  to  accept  some  money  for  their 
services.  They  refused  at  first  but  finally  they  gave 
in.  From  their  point  of  view,  they  had  made  suffi- 
cient profit,  merely  in  prestige,  both  with  their  own 
people  and  with  the  Resident.  I  made  them  my 
agents  in  their  districts  and  took  them  with  me  to 
the  offices  of  the  steamship  company  while  I 
arranged  to  have  any  animals  they  brought  to  Pon- 
tianak  shipped  to  me  at  Singapore.  When  we  sailed 
the  next  day,  they  were  in  their  boats  alongside, 
waving  and  yelling. 

There  was  great  excitement  in  Singapore  when 
the  story  of  the  orang-outangs  got  about.  Hordes 
of  people  came  to  see  them  unloaded.  I  called  upon 
the  police  to  keep  the  crowd  back,  for  I  was  afraid 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  155 

the  excitement  might  be  too  much  for  the  beasts. 

At  my  animal  house,  I  put  them  in  a  quiet  spot 
and  left  Ali  in  charge  with  strict  orders  against 
letting  too  many  people  come  to  see  them.  Then 
I  went  to  the  cable  office  and  sent  to  the  Antwerp 
Zoological  Gardens  news  of  the  capture. 

There  was  no  question  in  my  mind  as  to  what 
the  answer  to  my  cablegram  would  be,  and,  before 
it  arrived,  I  made  all  the  arrangements  for  ship- 
ping. Antwerp  offered  $10,000  each  for  the  ani- 
mals delivered.  I  knew  that  I  could  get  offers  of 
$25,000  or  more  in  the  United  States,  but  that  the 
orangs  would  not  be  able  to  stand  the  voyage.  I 
sent  another  message  to  Antwerp,  saying  that  I 
was  sailing  and  requesting  that  arrangements  be 
made  for  shipping  by  rail  from  Marseilles. 

A  few  days  later,  the  cages  were  swung  aboard 
and  we  started  eastward.  Ali  accompanied  me  to 
care  for  the  animals. 

From  the  moment  the  steamer  headed  out  to  sea, 
the  orang-outangs  began  to  fail.  They  became 
deathly  seasick,  especially  the  female,  and  refused 
food.  Ali  and  I  were  with  them  constantly,  tempt- 
ing their  appetites  with  choice  bits  of  food  and  doing 
everything  possible  to  make  them  comfortable.  The 
male  grew  better  but  the  female  lost  strength  rap- 
idly. Finally  she  slumped  down  to  the  floor  of  the 
cage,  unable  to  sit  up;  she  paid  no  attention  to  us 
when  we  reached  into  the  cage  and  touched  her. 

One  morning  she  curled  up  on  the  floor,  buried 


156  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

her  face  in  her  arms  and  died.  Through  her  death 
I  lost  a  great  deal  of  money,  but  I  could  not  help 
feeling  relieved.  She  had  been  so  abjectly  miser- 
able and  she  had  seemed  so  human  in  her  suffering ! 
I  have  often  wondered  if  the  male  had  any  idea 
that  she  was  dead.  He  ceased  to  improve  in  health 
and  he  became  morose.  Many  days  of  anxiety  fol- 
lowed; every  minute  I  expected  the  message  that 
the  poor  fellow  was  dying. 

The  ship's  carpenter  built  a  vat,  and  we  "pickled" 
the  body  of  the  female  in  salt  water.  I  knew  that 
some  natural  history  museum  would  be  glad  to  have 
such  a  specimen  for  mounting.  We  steamed  into 
the  harbor  at  Marseilles  with  the  male  still  alive, 
and  I  thought  that  there  was  an  even  chance  of 
getting  him  to  Antwerp  if  the  people  there  had  fol- 
lowed my  instructions  and  arranged  transportation. 
An  agent  met  me  at  the  dock.  Everything  was  pre- 
pared for  us,  and  we  lost  no  time  in  getting  the 
beast  to  the  train. 

When  we  reached  Antwerp,  I  felt  like  standing 
on  the  platform  and  whooping.  My  job  was  fin- 
ished. 

The  men  from  the  Gardens  took  charge  and 
rushed  the  orang-outang  out  to  the  cage  that  had 
been  built  to  receive  him.  We  ran  the  transporta- 
tion cage  up  to  the  door  and  cut  away  the  bars. 
The  orang-outang  came  out  slowly,  like  a  tired  and 
sick  old  man.  He  was  not  interested  in  his  new 
surroundings  and  he  pushed  away  the  food  that  we 


SEA  TRAGEDY  OF  THE  JUNGLE  FOLK  157 

put  before  him.  Veterinarians  could  do  nothing  for 
him.  Ten  days  later  he  died. 

Ali  and  I  remained  in  Antwerp  for  several  weeks. 
It  was  Ali's  first  trip  to  Europe,  and  not  a  very 
enjoyable  one.  He  was  bewildered  and  puzzled ;  he 
could  not  understand  such  a  country.  Only  once 
did  he  venture  out  of  the  hotel  without  me,  and 
then  he  did  not  go  out  of  sight.  He  slept  in  my 
room  on  the  floor — he  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  a  bed — and  he  would  touch  no  food  that  was 
not  vouched  for  by  me. 

When  we  boarded  the  boat  that  was  to  take  us 
back  to  the  Far  East,  Ali's  face  brightened.  He 
had  had  a  wonderful  experience,  but  he  said :  "Oh, 
tuan,  I  am  happy  to  go  home:  I  would  not  live 
here." 


VI 
"KILLING  A  MAN-EATER" 

1DEFORE  describing  my  experience  with  a  man- 
eating  tiger,  I  want  to  tell  something  of  their 
habits  and  the  usual  methods  of  hunting  them. 

There  are  three  classes  of  tiger,  the  game  killer, 
the  cattle  killer  and  the  man-eater. 

The  game  killer  confines  himself  to  heavy  jungle 
amongst  the  hills,  where  he  keeps  to  the  feed- 
ing-grounds and  resorts  of  game;  he  is  a  great 
killer  of  deer  and  wild  pigs;  he  shuns  the  haunts 
of  man  and  wanders  in  the  jungle  at  all  hours. 

They  are  lighter  and  more  active  than  the  cattle 
killer.  Doubtless  the  reason  is  that  they  have  to 
travel  farther  for  their  food. 

The  terror  inspired  throughout  a  district  by  a 
man-eating  tiger  is  extreme  and  the  natives  are  only 
safe  in  numbers.  The  rapidity  and  certainty  of  its 
movements  form  the  chief  element  of  the  terror  it 
causes ;  it  is  generally  an  old  tiger  or  tigress,  or  one 
that  has  been  wounded  or  otherwise  hurt,  and  has 
been  unable  to  procure  its  food  in  its  usual  way. 

Cattle-killing  tigers  frequent  jungle  close  to  vil- 
lages and  seize  a  victim  amongst  cattle  where  they 
graze,  or  pick  up  a  stray  animal  about  the  villages 

at  night. 

158 


"KILLING  A  MAN-EATER"  159 

The  largest  tigers  are  found  amongst  the  habit- 
ual cattle  killers.  When  a  tiger  becomes  old  and 
fat  he  usually  settles  down  in  some  locality  where 
beef  and  water  are  plentiful,  and  here  he  lives  on 
amicable  terms  with  the  villages,  killing  a  cow  or 
bullock  about  once  in  four  or  five  days. 

A  full  grown,  large  tiger  would  have  no  chance 
in  a  fair  fight  with  a  bull-bison ;  the  latter's  brawny 
throat,  with  its  hide  one  and  a  half  inches  thick, 
would  afford  him  a  difficult  hold,  even  could  he 
attain  it,  and  no  wrench  could  dislocate  the  bison's 
powerful  neck,  while  the  tiger  would  be  crushed  out 
of  all  recognition  if  once  caught  between  the  ground 
and  the  bison's  massive  forehead  or  forelegs. 

I  have  never  witnessed  a  tiger  actually  seize  its 
prey,  but  it  has  been  described  to  me  by  natives 
who  have  seen  them  many  times  while  tending  cat- 
tle. The  general  method  is  for  the  tiger  to  slink 
up  under  cover  of  bushes  or  long  grass  ahead  of 
the  cattle  and  to  make  a  rush  at  the  first  cow  or 
bullock  that  comes  within  five  or  six  yards.  The 
tiger  does  not  "spring"  upon  his  prey  in  the  man- 
ner usually  represented,  but  clutching  the  bullock's 
forequarters  with  his  paws,  one  being  generally 
over  the  shoulder,  he  seizes  the  throat  in  his  jaws 
from  underneath  and  turns  it  upwards  and  over, 
sometimes,  springing  to  the  far  side  in  doing  so 
to  throw  the  bullock  over  and  give  the  wrench  which 
dislocates  its  neck. 

The  popular  belief  that  a  tiger  can  kill  his  prey 


160  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

by  a  stroke  is  erroneous.  I  have  never  seen  any- 
thing to  support  this  belief  nor  is  it  held  by  natives. 
I  have  seen  several  cattle  severely  lacerated  which 
had  escaped  from  tigers,  where  had  a  heavy  blow 
accompanied  the  strokes  of  the  paws,  bones  must 
have  been  broken. 

There  is  no  foundation  for  the  belief  in  tigers 
sucking  the  blood  of  their  victims;  the  jugular  vein 
is  seldom  if  ever  injured;  it  is  by  the  fracturing  of 
the  vertibrae,  not  by  blood-letting,  that  the  tiger's 
prey  is  deprived  of  life.  In  eating,  the  tiger  invar- 
iably commences  at  the  hindquarters  and  the  exact 
spot  where  the  first  mouthful  will  be  taken  can  be 
told  with  certainty. 

The  flesh  of  one  or  both  thighs,  and  sometimes 
the  flanks,  or  about  fifty  or  sixty  pounds  of  meat 
is  eaten  the  first  night. 

Tigers  seldom  lie  up  far  from  their  kill  if  the 
cover  be  thick  and  quiet ;  they  eat  whenever  inclined 
either  by  day  or  night  till  the  carcass  is  finished; 
this  is  usually  on  the  third  day;  but  of  course,  this 
depends  upon  the  size  of  the  animal  killed.  After 
or  during  a  meal  the  tiger  drinks  largely,  often 
walking  belly  deep  into  the  water. 

Tigers'  power  of  enduring  hunger  and  thirst  is 
very  great.  Once  we  surrounded  with  nets  a  tiger, 
tigress  and  a  leopard.  We  shot  the  leopard  the 
first  day,  but  the  enclosed  thicket  was  so  dense  that 
we  could  not  get  the  tigers  to  show,  but  on  the  fifth 
day  we  wounded  them  both.  After  this,  as  nothing 


"KILLING  A  MAN-EATER"  161 

would  make  them  break  cover,  I  sent  for  elephants 
and  killed  them  still  full  of  vigor  on  the  tenth  day. 
The  circle  in  which  they  were  enclosed  was  about 
seventy  yards  in  diameter,  and  the  heat  of  the  fires 
kept  up  night  and  day  was  considerable,  yet  they 
existed  without  a  drop  of  water  for  ten  days,  suffer- 
ing from  wounds  half  the  time.  A  tiger  can  go 
much  longer  than  this  without  serious  inconveni- 
ence. One  of  the  most  powerful  elements  in  the 
tiger's  attack  is  his  voice.  If  the  attack  be  com- 
menced very  near,  the  startling,  coughing  roar  is 
almost  paralyzing  to  the  coolest,  but  if  the  tiger  has 
to  come  on  from  any  distance,  he  rarely  does  more 
than  grunt,  and  the  hunter's  attention  is  concen- 
trated on  the  beast  itself,  so  the  demonstration 
passes  unnoticed. 

The  power  of  the  tiger's  voice  at  close  quarters 
may  be  understood  by  anyone  who  has  had  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  a  newly  caged  tiger;  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  watch  the  charge  against  the 
bars  without  flinching,  if  standing  within  a  yard  or 
so  of  them,  but  if  seen  at  twenty  yards  distance  it 
is  nothing. 

The  tigress  does  not  breed  oftener  than  once  in 
two  years.  They  do  not  breed  at  any  fixed  season. 
Cubs  have  been  taken  in  March,  May  and  October. 

A  tigress  feeds  her  cubs  when  very  young  with 
half-digested  flesh  which  she  disgorges  on  her 
return  from  hunting  or  kill.  Carrying  meat  to  any 
distance  would  be  an  unnatural  proceeding,  and  the 


162  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

half-digested  flesh  is  probably  better  adapted  to  the 
requirements  of  young  cubs. 

When  only  six  weeks  old  the  cubs  move  from 
place  to  place  with  their  mother,  but  are  left  at 
home  while  she  hunts,  though  she  leads  them  to 
feast  if  near  when  she  kills. 

Watching  for  the  return  from  a  kill,  or  at  a  pool 
where  they  are  known  to  drink,  is  a  method  of 
hunting  chiefly  practiced  by  natives.  Poison  pit- 
falls and  traps  are  generally  brought  into  play  when 
dealing  with  a  man-eater.  There  is  perhaps  no 
method  of  shooting  tigers  so  seldom  successful  as 
watching  for  their  return  to  feed  on  animals  they 
have  killed.  For  my  part,  I  confess  to  a  great  liking 
for  the  silent  and  solitary  watch,  which  kind  of 
shooting  requires  the  utmost  vigilance  and  patience. 

In  a  shady,  green-screened  platform  in  some  fine 
tree,  watching  at  the  cool  of  evening,  when  jungle 
sounds  alone  break  the  stillness  and  birds  and 
animals  seldom  seen  at  other  times  steal  forth  and 
can  be  watched  at  leisure,  an  intense  excitement  is 
kept  alive  by  the  possibility  of  the  tiger's  appearance 
at  any  moment.  Those  without  experience  at  this 
game  do  well  to  pause,  but  one  who  knows  the  beast 
he  has  to  deal  with  may  kill  many  dangerous  ani- 
mals on  foot  without  accident  or  even  serious  adven- 
ture. Almost  every  accident  that  occurs  is  directly 
traceable  to  ignorance  or  carelessness;  the  hunter 
is  a  tyro  or  over-venturesome,  or  due  precautions 
are  not  observed  when  following  a  wounded  beast 


"KILLING  A  MAN-EATER"  163 

on  foot  and  moving  about  where  he  does  not  think 
the  animal  can  possibly  be,  he  is  seized. 

Tiger  shooting  on  foot  can  never,  of  course,  be 
safe  sport;  risks  must  be  run,  but  if  properly  con- 
ducted, dangerous  game  shooting  on  foot  is  not  the 
mad  amusement  usually  supposed. 

It  makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world  whether 
the  animal  to  be  attacked  is  wounded  or  not,  and 
whether  any  tiger  should  be  attacked  on  foot  or 
left  alone  depends  greatly  on  the  nature  of  the 
jungle  in  which  he  is  found. 

In  the  grass  plains  and  thick  undergrowth  in 
parts  of  the  Malay  Peninsula  I  have  seen  tigers  that 
could  only  be  shot  at  from  the  elevation  of  an  ele- 
phant's back.  None  but  the  utterly  ignorant  would 
think  of  following  a  wounded  tiger  in  the  long 
grass  or  close  cover  where  it  has  every  advantage, 
and  the  hunter  may  be  seized  before  he  has  time 
to  use  his  rifle.  In  such  cover  the  tiger  rarely 
makes  any  demonstration,  seeking  only  to  avoid 
observation,  but  when  almost  stumbled  upon  he 
attacks  like  lightning. 

Under  no  temptation  should  a  hunter's  last  shot 
be  fired  at  a  retreating  beast. 

The  really  best  time  for  tiger  hunting  in  the 
Malay  Peninsula  is  in  the  height  of  the  hot  season, 
July  and  August,  when  the  water  supply  is  at  its 
lowest  ebb.  The  tigers  being  very  impatient  of 
thirst,  seek  the  lowest  valley  where  much  of  the 


164  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

game  he  preys  upon  has  gathered  and  where  the 
village  cattle  are  regularly  watered. 

It  is  quite  useless  to  devote  much  time  in  hunt- 
ing the  hill  or  game  killing  tiger  that  preys  upon 
game  alone ;  they  are  so  scattered  over  a  large  tract 
of  jungle  and  so  active  and  wary  that  it  is  only  by 
accident  that  they  are  ever  brought  to  bay. 

The  average  size  of  a  full-grown  tiger  is  from 
eight  and  a  half  to  nine  feet  from  nose  to  tip  of 
tail  and  weight  from  two  hundred  and  seventy-five 
to  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds. 

One  day  an  old  friend,  Tungku  S'leman,  a  petty 
rajah  from  Kelantan,  then  under  the  Siamese  Pro- 
tectorate but  now  under  the  British,  called  on  me 
and  invited  me  to  go  back  with  him  to  his  district 
to  trap  or  kill  tigers,  and  he  assured  me  I  would 
be  able  to  get  some  fine  tiger  cubs.  I  was  in  fact 
very  anxious  to  secure  a  few  good  specimens  of 
young  tigers,  but  as  his  district  was  far  inland,  near 
the  boundary  line  of  a  small  state  called  "Rawang," 
I  did  not  think  it  worth  my  while  to  go,  for  it  would 
involve  a  lot  of  time,  and  knowing  the  Malays  and 
their  ways  so  well,  it  might  mean  that  I  would  have 
to  beat  about  the  country  on  a  wild  goose  chase.  A 
Malay  will  always  exaggerate,  no  matter  on  what 
subject,  and,  as  stated  elsewhere  in  my  articles,  they 
finally  believe  what  they  are  telling.  They  will 
never  do  today  what  can  be  put  off  until  tomorrow 
— "Nou-tee  Bess-so"  (wait  tomorrow)  is  one  of  the 
principal  words  in  their  vocabulary. 


"KILLING  A  MAN-EATER"  165 

As  the  Tung-ku's  district  was  difficult  to  reach, 
the  Kelantan  river  branching  miles  from  the  nearest 
point,  and  elephants  being  the  only  means  of  travel, 
I  told  him  that  if  I  decided  to  go  back  with  him  he 
would  have  to  furnish  the  elephants  and  all  the  men 
I  might  need.  I  also  pointed  out  to  him  the  difficulty 
in  transporting  animals  and  cages  to  the  coast,  and 
that  the  cost  in  time  to  me  would  probably  be 
greater  than  the  trip  and  animals  were  worth.  It 
was  my  policy  not  to  show  any  interest. 

I  could  see  that  the  Tungku  was  anxious  to  have 
me  return  with  him  to  his  district,  as  it  was  tiger 
infested,  and  his  people  were  leaving  on  that 
account.  He  agreed  to  do  everything  in  his  power 
as  to  men,  elephants  and  transportation  to  the  coast. 
I  told  him  I  was  very  busy  but  that  I  would  think 
it  over,  and  to  come  back  in  a  few  days  when  I 
would  give  him  a  definite  answer. 

As  nearly  all  my  animals  had  been  shipped  from 
my  house  in  Orchard  Road,  I  decided  to  take  the 
trip  with  Tungku  S'leman  and  go  in  for  not  only 
tigers  but  whatever  it  was  possible  to  get.  I  was 
keen  on  securing  a  good  specimen  of  rhinoceros, 
and  tapir,  so  made  my  preparations  for  a  lengthy 
stay  in  his  district,  and  for  getting  whatever  ani- 
mals I  could,  large  or  small.  When  on  the  follow- 
ing day  the  Tungku  came  to  see  me  and  I  told 
him  I  would  go  back  with  him,  he  seemed  a  happy 
man.  I  advised  him  to  send  his  chief  follower  on 
ahead  so  that  he  could  have  the  elephants  meet 


166  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

us  at  the  end  of  our  trip  down  the  Kelantan  river, 
to  take  us  inland,  as  that  would  save  a  lot  of  time 
and  unnecessary  waiting  for  them  to  come  down  for 
us.  He  assured  me  the  elephants  were  there  as 
they  would  remain  until  he  returned.  So  the  fol- 
lowing week  we  started  up  the  coast  in  a  small  ves- 
sel, and  arriving  at  Koto  Bharn,  we  went  up  by  boat 
to  the  capital,  Kelantan,  and  the  next  day  after 
paying  my  respects  to  the  Sultan,  we  started  up  the 
Kelantan  river  to  where  the  river  turned  further 
south.  Here  at  a  kampong  we  found  the  four 
elephants  of  Tungku  S'leman.  We  stopped  four 
days  at  this  kampong,  getting  everything  packed 
that  would  not  be  used  or  wanted  until  we  reached 
the  Tungku's  village,  which  meant  a  four  days' 
journey  through  jungle. 

Taking  six  men,  including  the  headman,  I  started 
on  a  tour  of  inspection  of  that  district  for  the  best 
location  to  set  up  our  traps,  dig  pits,  and  spread 
nets  for  smaller  game,  as  the  headman  informed  me 
that  deer,  wild  pigs  and  tapir  were  numerous,  but 
very  shy.  On  our  return  to  the  kampong,  I  had 
a  trap  made  and  set  up  for  the  catching  of  tigers 
and  leopards,  and  explained  how  the  nets  were  to 
be  made  of  rattan,  both  large  and  small  mesh,  and 
how  to  set  them  amongst  the  trees.  I  was  partic- 
ular to  impress  upon  the  headman  that  he  was  to 
remove  all  signs  of  the  jungle  being  disturbed  and 
if  possible  have  a  goat  tied  to  the  windward  while 
setting  up  the  large  trap. 


"KILLING  A  MAN-EATER"  167 

I  did  the  same  at  the  two  other  kampongs  before 
we  reached  Tungku  S'lamen's  village,  where  I  was 
received  with  interest  by  the  natives,  as  I  was  one 
of  the  very  few  white  people  they  had  ever  seen, 
and  as  the  runners  had  hurried  on  ahead  as  we  were 
getting  close  to  his  village,  they  were  all  out  to  see 
Man  Gagah  (Sir  Elephant).  After  resting  for  a 
few  days  and  hearing  whatever  news  there  was 
regarding  the  man-eater  that  was  terrorizing  the 
district,  I  thought  it  best  to  try  and  round  him  up  by 
elephants. 

As  they  are  cowardly,  as  well  as  cunning,  they 
are  most  difficult  to  stalk,  and  as  their  movements 
are  so  uncertain  it  is  very  difficult  to  locate  them, 
it  was  essential  that  the  men  who  were  to  work  with 
me  could  be  depended  upon  at  the  right  moment.  I 
assured  them  that  in  numbers  they  were  safe  from 
the  tiger,  and  that  by  showing  a  bold  front  the  tiger 
would  be  more  afraid  of  them  than  they  of  it.  The 
last  time  it  had  been  reported  had  been  about  ten 
days  before,  and  nothing  could  be  done  for  the  time 
being,  so  I  started  the  men  making  traps,  snares 
and  nets.  These  I  intended  to  set  up  within  a  cer- 
tain area,  while  with  others  I  started  out  on  a  tour 
of  inspection  with  the  elephants  to  visit  all  the  water 
holes  and  drinking  pools  in  the  surrounding  district. 
There  I  intended  to  have  pits  dug  and  to  mark 
the  best  places  for  setting  the  nets;  the  traps  I 
intended  to  set  up  later,  depending  more  on  the  nets, 
as  I  had  already  had  traps  set  up  in  the  kampongs 


i68  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

on  our  way  to  the  Tungku's  village.  I  spent  a  whole 
week  in  working  out  different  areas  for  snaring  by 
nets. 

I  had  nets  made  of  twisted  rattan  in  sizes  of 
twenty  by  fifteen  feet  with  meshes  six  inches,  other 
nets  ten  by  eight  and  five  by  five  feet  with  meshes 
according  to  what  the  net  was  best  adapted  for. 

The  older  men  who  could  not  follow  the  hunt,  I 
had  put  to  work  making  transporting  or  rough 
string  cages  and  crates,  for  monkeys  as  well  as 
tigers. 

My  plan  was  to  work  each  section  or  area  and 
catch  by  either  net  or  pit  whatever  we  could. 
Everything  was  in  readiness  to  start  at  daybreak 
the  following  morning,  when  a  native  came  running 
into  the  kampong,  crying  as  he  ran,  "Re-mow, 
Sa-tan"  (Devil  Tiger).  The  man  was  about  to 
collapse  with  fright  and  exhaustion  from  running. 
I  calmed  him  so  he  could  tell  his  story,  which  was 
that  while  he,  his  wife  and  daughter  were  gathering 
some  faggots  not  one  hundred  yards  from  his  hut, 
the  tiger  suddenly  sprang  from  the  thicket  and 
striking  his  daughter  down,  carried  her  off  in  the 
jungle.  After  leaving  his  wife  in  the  hut,  he  ran 
to  the  Tungku's  kampong  to  inform  the  Tungku 
what  had  happened. 

As  it  was  too  late  in  the  afternoon  to  do  anything 
I  told  Tungku  S'lamen  to  send  out  the  alarm  for 
all  the  available  men;  the  alarm  is  sounded  by  the 
striking  of  a  hollow  log,  which  can  be  heard  for 


"KILLING  A  MAN-EATER"  169 

miles  in  the  stillness  of  the  jungle,  and  all  natives 
hearing  the  booming  sound  know  its  meaning.  I 
advised  Tungku  to  send  five  or  six  men  back  with 
the  messenger  and  for  them  to  stay  with  him  until 
we  came  the  next  morning.  The  hunt  was  on,  and 
all  preparations  were  made  at  once  for  our  early 
start,  as  the  men  began  to  flock  in  from  the  outlying 
kampong.  They  were  to  stay  at  the  Tungku's  kam- 
pong  that  night  to  be  ready  to  start  at  daybreak 
after  eating  their  breakfast.  There  was  intense 
excitement  throughout  the  whole  night,  very  little 
sleep  for  anyone,  for,  as  I  told  the  men,  they  would 
not  return  until  we  had  killed  the  tiger.  A  few  of 
the  natives,  especially  the  headmen,  had  flintlock, 
muzzle-loading  rifles.  To  these  I  handed  out  extra 
powder  and  slugs ;  they  were  really  good  marksmen 
and  men  who  could  be  depended  on  at  the  right 
moment. 

We  started  at  daybreak.  The  men  having  eaten, 
everyone  was  anxious  and  eager  to  be  off,  now  that 
the  hunt  was  to  be  conducted  not  alone  by  a  white 
man,  but  in  numbers.  There  were  fifty  natives ;  the 
Tungku  and  two  of  his  headmen  with  their  flint- 
lock rifles  rode  on  the  first  elephant,  while  AH  and 
myself  followed  behind  on  the  second,  the  third 
with  stores  bringing  up  the  rear,  for  I  had  no  idea 
when  we  would  get  back.  Although  the  Tungku 
assured  me  the  elephants  were  well  broken,  I  did 
not  place  any  reliance  on  them.  Riding  on  an  ele- 
phant and  jogging  along  peacefully  is  one  thing, 


and  tiger  hunting  on  the  back  of  one  is  quite  an- 
other. As  I  have  mentioned  elsewhere,  they  are 
excessively  timid  both  in  their  wild  and  domestic 
state,  and  to  become  a  well-trained,  tiger-hunting 
elephant,  one  so  broken  must  have  plenty  of  courage 
and  experience.  It  is  simply  madness  to  attempt  to 
use  an  elephant  that  has  never  been  broken  and 
tried  out,  as  they  will  always  bolt.  Then  again,  if 
one  never  had  a  gun  fired  from  its  back,  the  effect 
is  rather  startling  to  his  riders.  It  is  a  terrible  thing 
to  be  bolted  with  while  on  an  elephant's  back  in  the 
jungle.  I  intended  to  take  no  chances  while  mounted 
as  far  as  shooting  was  concerned,  depending  on  cor- 
nering the  tiger,  if  possible,  and  if  the  ground  were 
favorable,  start  on  foot. 

Besides  my  50-110  express,  I  had  a  Holland 
double-barrel  450  and  a  Fox  No.  12  smooth 
bore  shotgun.  Ali  had  his  spears,  but  was  to 
use  either  the  express  or  double-barrel  Holland 
if  we  came  up  with  the  tiger.  The  other  men 
carrying  spears,  parangs  and  tom-toms  made 
up  the  party.  Arriving  at  the  place  where  the  girl 
had  been  seized,  two  men  who  were  experienced 
trackers  took  up  the  trail,  which  was  quite  fresh  and 
plain  and  could  be  easily  followed.  Presently  we 
came  upon  the  remains  of  the  poor  victim.  Very 
little  was  left — only  the  head  and  upper  part  of  her 
body.  We  stopped  only  long  enough  to  bury  the 
remains.  The  tracks  were  not  over  an  hour  old, 
and  as  the  jungle  was  sparse,  it  would  give  no  cover 


"KILLING  A  MAN-EATER"  171 

to  the  tiger.  After  crossing  a  small  stream,  his 
track  led  toward  a  rocky  hill  less  than  two  miles 
distant,  coming  suddenly  into  a  clearing  with  tall 
grass. 

I  shouted  to  the  men  to  spread  out,  keep  quiet, 
and  move  slowly  within  a  few  feet  of  each  other. 
As  the  grass  was  still  heavy  with  dew,  we  could  see 
where  the  tiger  had  passed  through  to  the  right  into 
the  thicker  jungle.  We  had  perhaps  traveled  about 
one  hour,  the  tracks  becoming  difficult  to  follow  on 
account  of  heavy  undergrowth,  when  we  were 
startled  by  the  screaming  and  chattering  of  mon- 
keys. We  knew  then  the  tiger  was  not  far  ahead, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  elephant  that  the  Tungku 
was  on,  spreading  his  ears  and  raising  his  trunk, 
uttered  a  shrill,  brassy  trumpet,  expressing  his  fear. 
I  called  to  the  Tungku  to  take  the  elephant  back, 
as  he  would  be  worse  than  useless.  He  was  quickly 
turned  about  and  driven  behind,  the  Tungku  com- 
ing up  with  me,  the  two  headmen  joining  the  men 
on  foot.  The  elephant  I  was  on  showed  no  sign 
of  uneasiness;  the  mahout  or  driver  spoke  sharply 
to  him,  calling  back  to  me  that  he  could  handle  him 
as  that  was  not  the  first  time  he  had  been  used  in 
smelling  tiger.  Still  I  was  loath  to  risk  firing  a 
gun  from  his  back. 

We  followed  the  trail  of  the  chattering  monkeys, 
when  suddenly  they  ceased,  as  we  came  to  a  very 
heavy  patch  with  thick  undergrowth,  excellent 
cover  for  the  tiger,  into  which  he  had  evidently 


172  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

gone.  The  patch  itself  was  not  more  than  seventy 
yards  in  diameter.  I  called  to  the  men  to  stretch  out 
and  surround  the  place,  and  make  as  much  noise  as 
possible,  keeping  close  together. 

As  soon  as  the  patch  was  surrounded,  I  told  the 
Tungku  to  send  the  two  elephants,  the  one  he  had 
been  on  and  the  other  one  carrying  stores,  back  to 
his  kampong  for  more  men,  and  the  men  as  they 
came  on  were  to  cut  and  load  up  the  elephants  with 
all  the  dry  wood  they  could ;  also  each  man  was  to 
carry  some  wood  and  as  many  of  the  long  nets  as 
had  been  made.  These  I  intended  to  spread  out 
at  the  back  and  as  much  around  the  sides  as  possi- 
ble, making  doubly  sure  he  should  not  escape.  I 
told  the  Tungku  we  would  not  leave  the  spot  until 
the  tiger  had  been  killed.  I  had  a  platform  built 
with  "kaj-ongs"  forming  the  roof.  This  was  very 
soon  finished,  and  late  in  the  afternoon  the  elephants 
returned  with  more  foodstuffs,  wood  and  forty  men. 
Each  man  had  gathered  a  good  bundle  of  dried 
wood,  which  wood  I  had  passed  around,  as  I  in- 
tended to  form  a  circle  of  fire  and  keep  the  tiger 
within  the  circle.  I  then  had  the  fires  started  and 
they  were  kept  up  the  whole  night,  but  in  the  morn- 
ing the  fires  that  were  in  front  of  the  platform  were 
allowed  to  die  out,  and  after  the  men  had  taken 
turns  eating,  I  ordered  them  to  close  in  about  twen- 
ty-five feet,  throwing  the  fire  before  them.  In  this 
way  I  kept  narrowing  the  circle  every  few  hours 
while  we  on  the  platform  kept  a  keen  lookout. 


"KILLING  A  MAN-EATER"  i7j 

On  the  second  day  one  of  the  headmen  on  the 
left  side  of  the  circle  fired  a  shot  at  what  he  said 
was  the  tiger.  Instantly  there  was  a  great  com- 
motion and  the  men  started  shouting  and  making  a 
great  noise.  We  were  keenly  on  the  alert,  as  the 
platform  faced  the  only  spot  of  the  circle  that  was 
open  and  free  from  fire,  and  hoped  the  tiger  would 
break  cover.  Suddenly  Ali,  touching  me,  quietly 
said,  as  he  raised  his  gun  to  his  shoulder,  "Tuem- 
block-on-po-ko"  (behind  the  tree).  Telling  him  to 
cover  the  left  side,  I  covered  the  right  side  of  the 
tree  the  tiger  was  crouching  behind,  and  told  Ali  to 
shoot  as  close  to  the  tree  as  he  could  without  hitting 
it.  He  fired,  and  almost  instantly  I  let  go  at  a 
streak  of  yellow  and  black;  it  disappeared  at  once. 
The  yelling  by  this  time  was  enough  to  drown  the 
grunt  or  roar  of  the  tiger;  there  was  no  way  at 
the  time  to  know  if  we  had  succeeded  in  hit- 
ting it,  so  completing  the  fire  circle  in  front  of 
the  platform,  we  lay  down  to  sleep  as  best  we  could. 
What  little  wind  there  was,  was  in  our  direction, 
and  kept  us  pretty  free  from  being  eaten  alive  by 
mosquitoes. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day  the  tiger  had 
not  broken  cover  and  as  the  circle  had  now  nar- 
rowed to  about  fifty  yards,  the  heat  was  intense,  for 
the  fires  were  kept  going  day  and  night.  Still  the 
tiger  would  not  break  cover.  I  was  determined  to 
go  into  the  circle  then  with  the  elephant,  as  the  nets 


174  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

were  well  put  up  at  the  back,  outside  of  the  fire,  and 
that  allowed  more  men  to  strengthen  the  sides.  I 
was  taking  no  chances  of  escape.  I  had  two  head- 
men get  up  on  the  elephant  I  had  come  on,  and  told 
the  driver  to  back  a  short  distance,  as  I  wanted  the 
headmen  to  shoot  off  their  guns  from  the  elephant's 
back,  in  order  to  watch  the  effect  on  the  elephant. 
I  told  them  to  each  fire  his  gun  off  on  opposite 
sides  but  not  at  the  same  instant.  Well,  he  never 
moved,  and  when  those  muzzle-loading  flintlocks 
go  off  they  certainly  kick  and  make  a  startling  noise. 
After  that  test  I  was  satisfied  to  take  the  chance 
and  told  the  Tungku  that  AH  and  myself  were  going 
in  after  the  tiger,  and  that  he  and  his  two  headmen 
must  keep  a  sharp  lookout  from  the  platform  and 
have  their  guns  trained  on  the  opening.  The  ma- 
hout was  a  plucky  fellow  and  felt  very  proud,  assur- 
ing me  he  could  handle  his  elephant. 

I  passed  the  word  for  all  the  men  to  be  on  the  look- 
out and  allow  the  fire  on  the  right  side  to  die  out,  to 
keep  together,  and  those  of  the  headmen  who  had 
guns  should  shoot  if  the  tiger  tried  to  break  through. 
As  soon  as  the  fires  had  died  down,  I  told  the  driver 
to  go  ahead  and  keep  to  the  right  side.  "When  on  an 
elephant  in  fair  ground,  the  object  should  be  to  get 
the  tiger  to  charge  instead  of  letting  him  sneak 
away,  for  the  hunt  is  then  ended  in  a  short  and 
exciting  encounter,  but  if  once  let  away  it  may  be 
hours  before  he  is  found  again,  if  he  ever  is  at  all. 


"KILLING  A  MAN-EATER"  175 

Coming  opposite  the  tree  where  we  had  shot  at 
the  tiger,  and  under  a  patch  of  heavy  undergrowth, 
against  a  large  boulder,  we  both  saw  it.  Seeing 
the  elephant  it  gave  a  coughing  roar,  and  as  it  did 
I  let  go,  catching  it  fair  in  the  eye.  Ali  had  his 
spear  poised  ready  to  throw,  but  the  man-eater 
slumped  down  and  to  make  sure  I  put  another  ex- 
plosive bullet  in  its  side  as  it  lay.  I  called  to  the 
Tungku  we  had  got  it.  I  will  not  try,  for  I  could 
not  adequately  describe  the  scene  which  followed 
when  the  men  knew  their  foe  had  been  killed ;  shout- 
ing, yelling,  dancing,  they  went  wild.  Runners 
started  off  at  once  racing  back  to  the  kampong  to 
tell  the  news  and  have  the  women  make  ready  a 
feast.  The  return  to  the  kampong  was  like  a  royal 
procession.  The  Tungku  and  I  on  the  elephant  led 
the  way,  the  men  carrying  the  dead  tiger,  singing 
and  laughing,  calling  the  dead  animal  all  manner 
of  names.  There  was  great  feasting  that  night;  it 
was  made  hideous  with  the  singing  and  beating  of 
tom-toms,  and,  although  dead  tired  from  lack  of 
rest,  sleep  was  impossible.  In  the  morning  the 
Tungku  did  a  most  astonishing  thing;  nothing  of 
the  kind  had  ever  been  known  to  the  oldest  subject; 
he  set  free  five  of  his  debt  slaves. 

On  examination  I  found  that  the  first  time  we 
fired  at  her,  while  behind  the  trees,  as  she  leapt  back 
from  the  shot  Ali  had  fired,  I  had  caught  her  in  the 
flank,  smashing  the  hind  leg,  and  with  all  her  suf- 


176  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

fering,  thirst  and  heat,  she  never  betrayed  her  cover 
or  uttered  a  sound. 

She  measured  eight  and  three-quarters  feet  from 
tip  of  nose  to  tip  of  tail  and  weighed  about  two 
hundred  and  ninety  pounds.  She  was  in  milk,  but 
though  we  searched,  we  never  found  her  cubs. 


VII 
UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE 

fully  a  week  after  the  killing  of  the  man- 
eating  tiger,  I  devoted  all  my  time  seeing  to  the 
making  of  rough  transportation  cages,  crates  of  all 
sizes,  and  small  nets.  One  morning  I  told  the  Tung- 
ku  of  a  plan  I  had  to  get  some  large  nets  made  in 
a  hurry.  "Te-dor,  bully  tuan"  (Cannot  be  done, 
sir),  said  he,  shaking  his  head.  I  then  explained 
to  him  how  I  intended  to  work  it.  Clapping  his 
hands  to  his  sides  he  went  into  a  fit  of  laughter, 
and  was  as  pleased  as  a  child,  saying:  "By  tuan  by 
(Good,  sir,  good)."  I  have  stated  before 
that  getting  work  out  of  a  Malay  was  an 
art  that  can  only  be  attained  by  close  intercourse 
and  complete  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  native 
and  by  making  work  seem  play  or  a  game.  To  stage 
the  affair  in  the  best  light  I  had  the  Tungku  give 
orders  for  a  general  assembly  of  the  men  of  the 
kampong,  saying  that  the  Tuan  had  a  game  he 
wanted  the  men  to  enter  into,  and  when  they  were 
all  assembled,  I  told  them  I  was  going  to  offer 
prizes  to  the  men  picked  out  and  worked  as  crews, 
that  made  the  best  and  most  nets  in  four  days, — 
one  day  for  the  cutting  and  washing  the  rattan,  one 

177 


178  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

day  for  the  splitting  and  twisting  the  rattan  into 
rope,  and  two  days  for  net-making,  the  net-making 
to  start  on  the  third  day  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing until  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  no  work 
to  be  done  on  the  nets  until  the  next  morning,  when 
they  started  again  at  six  o'clock  and  worked  until 
four.  The  nets  were  to  be  made  ten  by  eight  with 
six-inch  mesh,  there  would  be  four  men  to  a  crew, 
and  three  crews  would  go  in  for  the  prizes.  Those 
who  wanted  to  enter  were  to  step  forward  and  the 
Tungku  would  pick  them  out — no  old  men  or  boys. 
They  were  to  start  the  next  morning,  the  prizes 
were  five  dollars  (Mexican)  to  each  man  of  the 
crew  that  made  the  best  and  most  nets,  three  dollars 
each  to  the  next  crew  and  two  dollars  each  to  the 
last.  As  soon  as  the  Tungku  had  picked  them  out, 
each  crew  should  choose  the  space  they  wanted  to 
work  in  and  set  their  poles  and  stakes  for  the 
twisting  of  the  rattan  and  the  making  of  the  nets. 
This  I  told  them  to  do  as  it  saved  them  a  lot  of  time, 
trouble  and  confusion,  for  then  each  crew  would 
know  the  space  it  was  to  work  in  so  as  not  to  inter- 
fere and  get  in  one  another's  way.  The  race  was 
not  to  begin  until  the  next  morning  at  six  o'clock, 
when  they  were  to  line  up  at  the  Tungku's  house 
and  at  the  word  "go"  start  for  the  jungle  and  cut 
rattan. 

Believe  me,  I  started  something !  If  there  is  one 
thing  a  Malay  loves,  it  is  a  game  or  race  of  any 
kind,  pitting  themselves  against  one  another;  any- 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  179 

thing  that  has  a  flavor  of  sport  that  can  be  gambled 
on. 

Every  man  was  eager,  and  the  Tungku,  looking 
them  over,  picked  out  the  men,  and  as  each  man 
was  chosen,  the  men,  women  and  children  howled 
with  delight,  clapping  hands,  passing  all  manner  of 
jokes  and  banter.  When  the  men  were  picked  out 
the  Tungku  formed  them  in  crews;  they  were  a 
pretty  proud  lot.  Again  warning  them  that  they 
could  not  start  making  the  nets  until  the  second 
day,  and  that  after  they  started  in  the  morning  to 
cut  the  rattan,  if  they  were  caught  taking  help  from 
any  of  their  friends,  they  would  be  thrown  out  of 
the  race,  he  told  them  to  get  busy  and  lay  out  their 
poles  and  stakes.  The  Tungku  shaking  his  head 
and  laughing,  said :  "Tuan  bow-gar  pore-day  sea- 
opper  pe-care,  e-to  (Sir,  you  are  very  clever,  who 
would  think  of  that)." 

In  the  meantime  the  men  and  their  friends  got 
to  work  staking  out  and  putting  up  cross-sections 
and  poles  for  the  twisting  of  rattan  and  the  making 
of  the  nets.  Everyone  in  the  kampong  was  laugh- 
ing and  talking  over  it.  It  was  going  to  be  great 
sport  and  plenty  of  fun;  each  had  their  favorites 
and  were  already  making  wagers  on  them.  This 
was  not  work!  This  was  play,  sport,  a  game,  riv- 
alry, having  an  audience,  for  the  whole  kampong 
and  those  from  the  outlying  districts  would  be  there ; 
men,  women  and  children  cheering  and  edging  them 
on,  not  alone  for  the  prizes  but  the  prestige  it  would 


i8o  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

give  to  be  known  as  the  best  and  fastest  net-makers 
in  the  whole  of  Kelantan.  The  tiger  hunt  was  off, 
and  the  net-making  and  round-up  was  on. 

At  daybreak  the  following  morning,  the  whole 
kampong  gathered  at  the  Tungku's,  and,  after  eat- 
ing the  breakfast  of  rice  and  dried  fish,  started  off 
for  the  jungle  to  cut,  collect  and  wash  the  rattan. 

One  who  has  never  seen  rattan  in  its  natural  state 
would  be  quite  deceived  by  its  appearance ;  it  is  not 
the  smooth,  shining,  pointed  cane  one  sees  in  the 
market ;  it  grows  as  a  vine,  sometimes  one  hundred 
feet  and  over,  up  and  down  trees  or  along  the 
ground,  twisting  in  and  out;  it  is  covered  by  an 
outer  shell  or  skin,  and  at  each  joint  a  circle  of 
thorns  an  inch  in  length.  The  outer  skin  and  thorns 
are  scraped  away,  washed  and  cut  in  lengths  of 
sixteen  feet,  one  hundred  lengths  to  a  bundle,  and 
the  rattan  is  ready  for  the  market.  They  grow  in 
various  thickness.  The  Malacca  cane  is  the  thick- 
est grown. 

Everybody  went  down  to  the  stream  where  they 
would  strip  the  thorns  and  peel  off  the  outer  skin, 
wash,  split  and  cut  in  lengths;  the  crews  kept  cut- 
ing  like  mad.  I  do  not  believe  there  ever  was  so 
much  rattan  cut,  stripped,  washed  and  cut  in  lengths 
in  the  state  of  Kelantan,  or  in  any  other  state,  in 
one  day  as  those  twelve  men  did. 

On  the  morning  of  the  third  day,  the  whole  dis- 
trict was  in  holiday  attire  and  all  on  edge  to  see 
and  encourage  their  friends  to  be  the  first.  The  rat- 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  181 

tan  was  all  laid  out  in  two  piles  in  cut  lengths  of 
twelve  and  ten  feet  and  seventy-two  pegs  or  bamboo 
stakes  were  driven  into  the  ground.  I  myself  had 
measured  off  the  ground  and  stakes  for  length  and 
width  of  nets.  Twenty  each,  stakes  for  top  and 
bottom,  and  sixteen  stakes  each  for  width. 

The  first  day  was  pretty  nearly  a  tie,  although 
one  crew  had  started  on  another  net  and  had  got 
one-quarter  of  it  finished  when  a  halt  was  called  for 
the  day.  Nine  nets  on  the  following  day,  the  crew 
that  had  one-quarter  of  a  net  finished  the  day  before 
finishing  four  nets  by  four  o'clock;  the  other  two 
were  practically  tied,  and  as  such  I  gave  them 
credit ;  they  had  three  and  a  half  nets  finished,  and 
each  of  the  crew  received  second  prize  money,  three 
dollars  each.  There  was  great  satisfaction,  although 
the  first  crew  with  their  five  dollars  each  were  strut- 
ting around  and  talking  big.  After  finishing  the 
half-made  nets,  I  had  twenty-one  ten  by  eight  rattan 
nets.  Great  work  in  four  days;  had  I  gone  any 
other  way  about  getting  them,  it  would  have  taken 
twice  as  long.  Even  with  the  money  prizes,  they 
cost  me  on  an  average  of  only  two  dollars  (Mexi- 
can) or  one  dollar  each. 

The  third  day  after  the  net-making  contest,  tak- 
ing fifteen  men  and  loading  their  nets,  large  and 
small,  on  an  elephant,  we  started  off  for  a  half  day's 
journey  from  the  kampong  to  set  up  the  nets  on  the 
ground  and  in  the  trees,  also  to  dig  pits  at  the  water- 
holes.  We  had  been  moving  on  slowly,  the  first 


182  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

elephant  carrying  the  nets,  breaking  a  trail  for 
about  three  hours,  when  we  heard  the  screaming 
and  chattering  of  monkeys.  The  natives  first 
thought  the  cry  was  "re-mow"  (tiger)  ;  the  men 
on  the  first  elephant  halted  just  at  reaching  a  break 
in  the  jungle ;  they  called  back,  all  excited :  "Tuan, 
Bar-be.  Ari-men  kombing,  be-prong  (Sir,  a  fight 
between  a  pig  and  a  leopard)."  By  the  time  I 
arrived  alongside  the  other  elephant  at  the  clearing 
both  elephants  were  becoming  restive,  but  were  be- 
ing calmed  down  by  their  drivers. 

I  came  upon  a  sight  I  shall  never  forget,  a  full- 
grown  leopard  and  a  Baba-rusa  (wild  boar)  in  a 
deadly  combat.  I  was  fascinated  by  the  sight;  no 
noise  would  have  disturbed  them,  for  what  with 
the  snarling,  screaming,  grunting  of  the  two,  and 
the  screaming  of  the  monkeys,  it  was  difficult  for  me 
to  even  make  the  men  I  was  talking  to  hear.  The 
fight  must  have  been  going  on  for  some  time  before 
we  got  there.  The  pig's  jaws  dripped  with  blood 
and  foam,  his  beady  red  eyes  following  each  move 
of  the  leopard,  his  flanks  and  back  covered  with 
blood  from  the  clawing  and  biting  it  had  suffered, 
but  still  strong,  nimble  and  full  of  fight ;  the  leopard's 
side  and  neck  gashed  open  and  blood  streaming 
from  the  wounds.  One  can  hardly  credit  the  quick- 
ness of  a  wild  boar ;  they  are  lightning  fast  on  their 
feet;  their  big  head  and  thick  hide  are  a  match 
for  any  tiger  in  a  fair  fight,  let  alone  a  leopard,  and 
although  a  leopard  is  very  quick,  the  boar  with  its 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  183 

wicked  tusks  matched  him  in  all  his  moves  and 
springs.  It  made  no  difference  which  way  the 
leopard  would  spring,  it  was  always  met  by  a  rip- 
ping of  the  tusks.  It  was  an  ideal  place  for  an 
encounter  of  this  kind ;  a  clear,  open  space,  neither 
having  an  advantage,  the  ground  baked  hard.  It 
gave  a  firm  foothold  to  the  boar  as  it  allowed  it  to 
turn  and  meet  the  rushes  and  springs  of  the  leopard, 
and  as  the  leopard  would  spring  the  boar  would  dart 
forward,  throwing  up  its  head  at  the  same  time,  the 
tusks  ripping  whatever  they  came  in  contact  with. 
The  object  of  the  leopard  was  to  get  a  firm  hold  on 
the  back  of  the  boar,  while  the  boar,  unmindful  of 
biting  and  clawing,  was  bent  on  getting  the  leopard 
down  and  disemboweling  him.  The  men  became 
as  excited  as  the  monkeys  in  the  trees,  and  it  was 
difficult  to  distinguish  which  were  making  the  more 
noise  or  were  the  more  excited.  I  am  positive  we 
looked  upon  the  fight  ten  minutes,  and  I  cannot 
judge  how  long  they  were  at  it  before  we  came  upon 
them;  they  were  both  becoming  weaker  from  the 
loss  of  blood. 

As  we  watched  them  with  bated  breath,  the  leop- 
ard kept  circling  around,  crouching  for  a  spring, 
while  the  boar,  never  taking  its  small  red  eyes  from 
the  leopard,  with  head  lowered,  was  watching 
and  ready  to  meet  the  next  move.  Almost 
too  quick  for  the  eye  to  follow,  the  leopard  sprang 
at  the  boar  like  lightning,  the  boar  jumped  forward 
and  aside  and,  in  a  flash,  turned  and  as  the  leopard 


184  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

struck  the  ground,  before  it  could  recover, 
was  upon  it,  striking  it  with  its  head  and  throwing 
it  on  its  side.  Standing  on  its  adversary,  with  its 
front  feet  holding  it  down  and  unmindful  of  the 
snarling,  biting  and  clawing,  with  a  squealing 
grunt,  the  boar  lowered  his  head  and  with  one  rip- 
ping thrust  disemboweled  the  leopard. 

It  was  done  quicker  than  the  eye  could  follow. 
The  leopard  lay  where  it  was ;  it  attempted  to  rise, 
but  the  boar,  jumping  and  stamping  upon  it,  it  fell 
back,  gave  one  or  two  spasmodic  efforts  to  rise  and 
turned  over  dead.  The  boar  still  standing  over  it, 
squealing,  its  head  rolling  from  side  to  side,  its  hind 
feet  sagged  and,  giving  a  squealing  grunt,  fell  over 
the  leopard,  dead.  It  was  truly  a  battle  royal.  I 
was  thrilled.  I  could  not  move.  It  was  the  most 
thrilling  sight  I  think  I  ever  witnessed.  My  admir- 
ation for  the  boar  was  great ;  had  he  not  died,  and 
had  been  able  to  move  off,  I  would  have  made  no 
attempt  to  either  stop  or  kill  him.  It  was  a  mag- 
nificent fight,  with  the  boar  on  his  feet  last. 

We  buried  the  dead  fighters  and  went  on  our 
way.  Coming  to  a  small  stream,  I  decided  to  make 
camp.  We  built  platforms  in  trees  for  sleeping 
and  as  a  cache  for  stores,  cutting  down  the  sur- 
rounding trees  and  leaving  a  small  clearing.  The 
next  day  I  had  the  men  cut  saplings  and  rattan 
to  make  rough  transportation  cages.  I  wanted 
everything  handy  so  a  cage  could  be  made  in  a 
few  moments.  The  natives  could  not  at  first  under- 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  185 

stand  why  I  went  to  all  the  trouble  of  having  all 
the  wood  ready  for  cages  and  nothing  to  put  in 
them.  Their  idea  was  to  get  the  animals  first  and 
then  cage  them.  I  pointed  out  that  an  animal  in 
a  net  was  sure  to  injure  itself  in  its  struggle  to 
escape  and  the  sooner  it  was  in  a  cage  and  free 
from  the  nets,  the  safer  it  would  be,  for  if  they 
were  injured  in  any  way,  they  were  useless.  We 
stayed  four  days  at  this  camp,  arranging  the  nets 
and  digging  a  few  pits  after  caching  stores  in  the 
trees.  Before  starting  on  the  first  drive  I  explained 
to  the  Tungku  what  I  considered  the  most  difficult 
problem  of  the  expedition,  namely  a  clear  road  to 
the  river  and  to  the  coast,  as  all  cages  would  have 
to  be  drawn  to  the  river  on  runners  or  sleds,  and 
the  jungle  paths  would  have  to  be  cleared  of  fallen 
trees  and  undergrowth.  I  told  him  he  had  better 
send  four  or  five  men  to  clear  and  widen  the  path 
to  the  next  kampong  and  the  headman  there  to  do 
the  same  on  to  the  next,  and  so  on  to  the  river,  the 
headman  at  the  river  to  gather  bamboo  and  logs  for 
making  of  rafts.  For  the  drive  itself  and  the  work 
pertaining  to  it,  fifty  men  would  answer.  We  would 
be  away  from  the  kampong  about  one  week  and  at 
the  farthest  one  half  day's  journey.  Should  occa- 
sion arise,  I  would  send  back  for  bullocks  to  bring 
in  the  cages.  Everything  being  arranged  to  my 
satisfaction  as  to  the  transportation,  we  started  of! 
the  next  morning  and  arrived  at  the  clearing  where 
the  leopard  and  boar  had  battled,  and  started 


i86  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

the  drive  at  that  point.  The  Tungku  and  I  rode  on, 
the  elephant  in  the  center,  twenty-five  men  on  each 
side  and  an  elephant  at  each  end,  headmen  with 
their  muzzle  loaders  on  the  elephants. 

At  the  striking  of  a  tom-tom  we  all  started  to 
move  toward  the  camp.  The  men  were  told  to 
make  as  much  noise  as  they  wished  and  believe  me  it 
was  a  noisy  crowd.  They  went  at  it  heart  and 
soul,  not  only  on  account  of  the  incentive  of  clear- 
ing out  of  their  district  a  lot  of  destructive  animals, 
but  the  killing  of  the  man-eating  tiger  and  the  netr 
making  contest,  the  way  I  had  gone  about  things 
in  general  had  inspired  them  all  with  the  utmost 
confidence.  They  believed  that  no  possible  harm 
could  come  to  them  while  with  me,  and  my  slight- 
est wish  was  carried  out.  The  drive  itself  is  not 
dangerous  as  you  are  fairly  safe  in  numbers. 

With  the  men  shouting,  and  cutting  the  under- 
growth, and  the  two  elephants  at  each  end  breaking 
through,  there  was  enough  noise  to  'startle  and 
drive  any  animal  before  it.  Our  work  in  extract- 
ing whatever  we  caught  and  the  putting  together 
of  cages,  would  not  allow  those  animals  caught  in 
nets  much  chance  to  bite  through  or  injure  them- 
selves as  we  could  handle  the  most  violent  ones  first. 

In  handling  and  taking  from  the  nets  the  smaller 
animals  a  thick  bamboo  was  used  hollowed  through- 
out, about  five  or  six  feet  long,  with  a  length  of 
stout  rattan,  the  end  doubled  together  and  run 
through  the  bamboo,  leaving  a  loop  at  one  end 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  187 

which  could  be  slipped  over  the  head  of  the  animal 
through  the  mesh,  and  drawn  taut  against  the  end 
of  the  bamboo  and  held  by  two  natives.  Although 
they  would  wiggle  and  twist  and  squirm,  they  were 
helpless,  and  as  the  net  would  be  unfurled,  another 
loop  held  by  two  other  natives  would  then  be  slipped 
over  its  head  and  as  the  other  loop  was  allowed  to 
come  free  from  the  bamboo,  they  would  take  the 
animal  which  was  now  clear  of  the  net  and  drop  it 
in  the  rough  cage.  With  the  bars  fastened  and  the 
animal  safe,  it  was  ready  to  be  sent  on  to  the  near- 
est kampong. 

This  method  of  course  could  only  be  used  with 
the  smaller  animals.  The  larger  cat  animals  that 
were  caught  in  the  nets,  two  leopards  and  one 
clouded  tiger  were  so  entangled  that  we  put 
nets  and  all  in  the  rough  cages  and  then  from 
between  the  bars,  cut  enough  of  the  mesh  in  the 
net  for  the  animals  to  free  themselves.  The  larger 
deer  gave  us  a  lot  of  trouble  on  account  of  getting 
their  horns  and  feet  entangled  through  the  meshes 
and  most  had  to  be  killed.  These  we  fed  to  the  cat 
animals,  after  we  had  taken  our  fill.  One  tapir  and 
calf  we  got  in  nets,  the  other  two  in  pits.  The  wild 
boars  gave  us  the  most  trouble.  Whereas  the  tapirs 
were  timid,  the  boars  were  very  vicious  and  could 
only  be  put  in  cages  by  the  same  method  I  used 
with  leopards.  With  the  tigers  and  leopards  caught 
in  set  traps,  a  transportation  cage  is  set  close 
to  one  end  of  the  trap  with  two  bars  raised. 


i88  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

A  chicken  or  bait  of  some  kind  is  placed  with- 
in the  cage,  then  a  couple  of  bars  of  the  trap  are 
loosened  and  drawn  out.  If  the  animal  refuses 
to  enter  the  cage  he  is  prodded  with  poles  until  he 
does,  the  bars  are  then  slipped  into  their  place  and 
the  animal  is  secured.  There  is  really  no  danger 
or  excitement  in  trapping  and  caging  of  tigers,  or 
any  animal  caught  in  a  trap  of  that  kind. 

In  all  I  stayed  with  the  Tungku  nine  weeks  and 
the  round-up  of  animals  caught  by  net  and  pit,  in- 
cluded ninety-two  different  varieties,  not  including 
three  tigers,  two  spotted  and  one  black  leopard — 
forty-three  cages  and  sixteen  crates.  This  only 
includes  those  specimens  in  good  condition.  I  do 
not  count  the  animals  that  were  killed  off  on  ac- 
count of  not  being  fit  to  show  for  zoological 
purposes. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  during  my  stay  with  the 
Tungku  to  witness  a  bull  fight.  Under  a  covered 
shed  on  a  raised  platform  the  Sultan  with  his  Court 
and  guests  sat,  while  the  natives,  five  and  six  deep, 
either  sat  on  the  ground  or  stood  forming  a  circle 
of  about  seventy  yards  in  which  the  bulls  fight. 

The  bulls  belonged  to  a  local  breed.  They  are 
small  in  size,  but  sturdy,  well  built,  very  quick  in 
movements,  have  a  small  hump  on  their  necks,  and 
short  sharp  horns.  They  are  trained  for  fighting 
from  early  youth  and  out  in  the  ring  about  the 
age  of  three,  but  are  at  their  best  at  four  or  five 
years  old.  Bulls  of  as  nearly  as  possible  the  same 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  189 

size  and  weight  are  generally  matched  to  fight,  and 
when  once  the  bulls  have  been  let  go,  the  fight  con- 
tinues till  one  turns  tail  and  leaves  the  field. 

Each  bull  has  three  or  four  men  who  encourage 
it  to  greater  efforts  and  when  the  fight  is  over  lead 
it  away. 

Sometimes  one  of  the  bulls  declines  to  fight  al- 
together and  rushes  away  the  moment  he  is  faced 
by  his  adversary.  The  victor  then  performs  a 
strange  sort  of  war  dance  alone,  whirling  round 
and  round,  tossing  his  head,  bellowing  and  snort- 
ing and  finally  dashing  off  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy, 
demoralizing  and  scattering  the  crowd  of  specta- 
tors who  fall  over  each  other  in  their  efforts  to 
get  out  of  his  dangerous  path. 

Usually  there  is  a  fight  more  or  less  prolonged 
and  when  at  last  one  bull  gives  way  and  runs  for 
the  field,  he  is  followed,  caught  and  brought  back 
again  to  face  his  adversary.  If  he  fights  again, 
well  and  good,  but  the  second  bout  rarely  lasts 
any  time  and  the  beaten  bull  again  saves  himself 
by  flight.  That  settles  the  matter  as  far  as  backers 
are  concerned  and  the  bets  are  paid.  It  very  seldom 
happens  that  a  bull  is  killed  or  even  seriously  in- 
jured. As  soon  as  the  bulls  arrive  on  the  ground, 
they  are  inspected  at  close  quarters  by  the  backers, 
while  the  setters-on  give  the  last  touches  to  their 
champion.  They  take  the  cover  from  the  points 
of  their  horns,  squeeze  and  rub  a  lemon  on  their 
nose  and  tongue,  and  tickle  their  back  and  sides. 


ipo  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

The  bets  are  made  and  deposited  with  the  stake- 
holder. The  choice  of  position  is  decided  by  the 
drawing  of  one  or  two  blades  of  grass  held  in  the 
umpire's  hand.  The  owner  who  draws  the  short 
blade  takes  the  upstream  position  for  his  bull,  while 
the  other  bull  faces  him  from  downstream.  The 
setters-on  then  bring  their  respective  bulls  closely 
up  to  have  a  good  look  at  each  other,  slowly  pass 
about  ten  yards  apart,  and  then  bring  them  face 
to  face.  The  leading  ropes  are  suddenly  cast  off 
and  the  bulls  dash  at  each  other  with  fury  and  meet 
head  on  with  a  resounding  thud.  In  a  second 
their  horns  are  interlocked,  each  trying  by  every 
ruse  and  device  to  drive  the  other  back  on  his 
haunches  or  throw  him  over  by  main  force.  A 
moment  later  the  horns  are  disengaged  to  find  a 
new  and  a  better  purchase,  and  first  one  and  then 
the  other  will  gain  a  slight  advantage  and  both  bulls 
move  this  way  and  that  from  the  center  to  the  sides. 
The  people  of  the  East  are  seldom  supposed  to 
give  way  to  demonstrations  expressing  emotion, 
but  while  a  bull  fight  is  on  the  Malays  yell  them- 
selves hoarse  with  shouts  of  encouragement  and 
approval,  while  the  setters-on  half  mad  with  excite- 
ment simply  dance  around  the  bulls. 

The  varying  tide  of  the  battle  carried  the  bulls 
to  the  center  of  the  circle,  and  the  novice  which 
at  first  contented  himself  with  simply  resisting  the 
attacks  of  his  antagonist  now  made  his  great 
effort,  pressing  irresistibly  forward,  and  bringing 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  191 

his  great  weight  so  to  bear,  that  at  last  his  adver- 
sary was  forced  back  a  few  inches.  Another  effort 
and  another,  then  gathering  himself  together,  he 
rushed  the  other  back  and  the  latter's  hind  legs  giv- 
ing way  under  the  pressure,  he  was  thrown  on  his 
side  and  the  other  was  upon  him,  butting  unmerci- 
fully with  his  short,  sharp-pointed  horns.  The  old 
bull  was  beaten,  but  gathering  himself  together  he 
recovered  his  legs  and  disappeared  amidst  a  scene  of 
the  wildest  excitement;  men  shouting  themselves 
hoarse  and  otherwise  expressing  their  delight.  The 
excitement  did  not  last  more  than  a  few  minutes, 
then  everybody  quietly  discussed  what  was  held  to 
be  a  great  fight.  It  lasted  about  twenty  minutes. 
The  beaten  bull  was  brought  back  again  but  as 
he  declined  to  face  his  late  adversary,  he  was  led 
away,  the  bets  were  paid,  and  every  one  settled  down 
again  to  wait  for  the  next  fight. 

On  my  return  from  the  round-up,  for  several 
years  I  did  not  venture  into  the  jungle  for 
more  than  a  day  or  two  at  a  time.  My  fever  and 
dysentery  had  become  chronic.  I  realized  that  I 
had  too  often  disregarded  the  warning  of  the 
doctors  and  that,  if  I  had  another  bad  attack  of 
illness,  far  away  from  medical  attention,  I  should 
have  to  leave  the  country  or  might  possibly  die  be- 
fore I  got  way.  My  animal  business  in  Singapore 
had  grown  so  large  that  it  gave  me  plenty  to  do, 
and  I  left  to  my  agents  the  work  of  collecting. 
Through  my  house  in  Orchard  Road  passed  a 


192  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

steady  stream  of  animals,  destined  for  zoological 
gardens  all  over  the  world. 

Most  of  the  animals  went  to  the  various  Austra- 
lian gardens  for  which  I  acted  as  agent.  They  al- 
lowed me  to  make  my  shipments  f.  o.  b.  Singapore, 
relieving  me  of  the  risks  of  transportation.  In 
return,  I  gave  them  first  call  on  all  of  my  best  speci- 
mens. When  their  needs  had  been  supplied  I  had 
my  choice  between  shipping  to  Hagenbeck's  agent 
at  Calcutta,  shipping  to  Europe,  and  selling  to  the 
crews  of  boats  that  called  at  Singapore.  The  offi- 
cers and  men  bought  many  animals,  sharing  the 
cost  and  eventually  sharing  the  profits  if  the  ani- 
mals lived  to  reach  Europe.  Ariff,  by  crooked  deal- 
ing and  passing  off  sickly  animals,  had  almost 
ruined  this  business,  but  it  revived  rapidly  when 
the  word  spread  that  I  could  be  depended  upon. 
Ariff  and  I  had  many  stormy  sessions  before  I 
convinced  him  that  my  way  was  the  better,  and  he 
finally  came  to  handle  a  large  part  of  the  boat  trade 
for  me,  doing  the  work  of  soliciting  orders  and 
making  deliveries  on  commission. 

I  made  very  few  sales  directly  to  America.  The 
trouble  and  risk  of  the  long  voyage  were  too  great, 
and  also  there  was  a  twenty-five  per  cent  duty  to 
be  paid  when  the  animals  were  landed.  The  gamble 
was  large,  and,  even  when  the  deliveries  were 
safely  made,  there  was  little  profit.  Some  of  my 
animals  reached  America  through  Hagenbeck,  who 
kept  them  until  they  were  acclimated  and  then 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  193 

shipped  them  across  the  Atlantic.  The  acclima- 
tization and  breeding  of  animals  in  captivity  is  a 
business  in  itself. 

Hagenbeck  approached  me  several  times  with 
the  proposition  to  become  his  exclusive  agent  in 
the  Far  East,  but  I  preferred  to  have  my  own  busi- 
ness and  sell  independently.  Both  he  and  Cross  of 
Liverpool  kept  me  busy  with  orders;  and,  with 
the  orders  from  Australia,  I  found  that  I  had  a 
greater  demand  that  I  could  meet.  Almost  every 
boat  that  came  to  Singapore  from  the  districts 
where  animals  were  captured  brought  specimens, 
and  I  was  continually  pressing  my  agents  to  send 
more.  I  traveled  constantly  throughout  the  Archi- 
pelago, urging  the  natives  to  work  faster  and  keep- 
ing in  touch  with  the  source  of  my  supply.  As  I 
have  said  before,  I  made  few  excursions  into  the 
jungle,  and  then  only  when  it  was  impossible  for 
my  agents,  who  were  generally  headmen,  to  leave 
their  kampongs  and  come  to  the  coast. 

Trengganu,  with  its  jungles  full  of  animals,  was 
my  favorite  territory.  I  had  the  valuable  privilege 
of  being  practically  the  only  white  man  who  could 
enter  that  country.  In  it  I  passed  so  much  of  my 
time  that  I  finally  had  a  house  built  there  for  me. 
My  presence  speeded  the  work  of  capturing,  though 
I  took  no  part  in  it  except  to  talk  with  the  head- 
men when  they  came  to  the  coast.  The  Sultan  gave 
me  unlimited  power  in  handling  the  natives,  and 


I94  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

no  native  who  worked  for  me  ever  had  cause  to 
complain. 

Nor  had  the  Sultan  himself;  for  I  often  found 
ways  of  helping  him  when  the  treasury  was  at  low 
ebb.  He  looked  to  me  to  bring  him  news  of  the 
outside  world  and  to  interpret  the  news  for  him  in 
terms  that  were  understandable.  Several  hours  of 
each  day  I  spent  at  the  palace,  in  discussing  the 
affairs  of  the  country  with  the  Sultan  and  his  Prime 
Minister,  Mahommed  Yusuf.  Yusuf  was  a  tunku 
besar  (big  prince)  and  was  formerly  the  Sultan  of 
Lingga.  He  was  driven  from  his  country  by  the 
Dutch  and  had  sought  refuge  with  his  brother,  the 
Sultan  of  Trengganu.  There  he  lived  as  an  object 
lesson  of  what  might  happen  if  Europeans  were 
allowed  to  come  into  the  country. 

It  was  inevitable  that  Trengganu  should  eventu- 
ally be  taken  over  by  the  British,  but  the  Sultan 
fought  the  idea  at  every  turn.  He  could  see  in  such 
a  possibility  nothing  but  ruin  for  himself,  and  he 
was  determined  to  hold  out  as  long  as  he  lived. 
In  our  long  talks  we  discussed  every  phase  of  his 
situation,  and  I  pointed  out  to  him  that  other  sultans 
had  prospered  under  the  British.  He  was  inter- 
ested in  that  fact  and  asked  for  more  information. 
Finally,  it  was  arranged  that  Sir  Frank  Swetten- 
ham,  who  was  governor-general  of  the  Straits  Set- 
tlements, should  make  a  visit  to  Trengganu.  That 
was  the  entering  wedge.  A  few  years  later,  an 
agreement  was  reached  by  which  the  country  be- 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  195 

came  a  British  protectorate  and  the  Sultan,  a  pros- 
perous, though  nominal,  ruler ;  and  the  development 
of  this  virgin  territory  began. 

As  a  reward  for  the  advice  and  assistance  I 
gave  him,  the  Sultan,  before  Trengganu  passed  out 
of  his  control,  made  me  a  present  of  five  different 
concessions  of  land,  with  all  mineral  and  surface 
rights.  Though  the  concessions,  which  totaled  nine 
hundred  square  miles,  were  rich  in  tin,  the  Sultan 
advised  me  to  let  the  tin  stay  where  it  was  and  plant 
rubber.  I  could  see  that  I  had  reached  the  begin- 
ning of  the  end  of  my  career  as  an  animal  dealer ! 

On  my  return  to  Singapore  after  one  of  my  visits 
to  Trengganu,  I  found  a  letter  from  Mr.  La  Souef, 
of  Melbourne,  asking  me  if  I  would  make  a  special 
effort  to  get  a  rhinoceros  for  his  zoological  gardens. 
He  had  made  the  same  request  the  year  before,  and 
I  had  had  a  standing  order  with  my  agents  in 
Trengganu,  but  nothing  had  come  of  it.  There 
was  constant  good-natured  rivalry  between  Mr. 
La  Souef  and  his  son,  who  was  director  of  the 
gardens  at  Perth,  and,  as  I  had  provided  the  son 
with  a  rhinoceros,  I  wanted  to  do  as  much  for  the 
father.  I  wrote  to  him,  saying  that  I  should  com- 
municate with  my  agents  and  that,  if  they  had 
nothing  to  report,  I  would  go  out  myself  and  see 
what  I  could  find  for  him.  Accordingly,  I  sent  AH 
to  Trengganu  with  the  message,  telling  him  to  wait 
there  until  I  arrived 

There  seemed  to  be  so  little  chance  that  the  na- 


196  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

tives  would  capture  a  good  specimen  that,  after 
attending  to  the  business  at  the  animal  house,  I 
gathered  my  kit  and  started  northward.  At  Treng- 
ganu  I  found  Ali  and  some  of  the  headmen  wait- 
ing for  me.  Just  as  I  had  expected,  they  had 
nothing  to  report.  One  of  them  said  that  he 
thought  I  could  find  a  rhinoceros  near  Rawang. 

"Why  do  you  think  so?" 

"Tuan,"  he  replied,  "there  are  traces." 

"But  why  haven't  your  men  been  digging  pits 
and  capturing  it?" 

He  made  some  reply  to  the  effect  that  his  men 
were  busy  planting  rice,  and  I  let  the  matter  drop, 
for  I  saw  that  he  was  unwilling  to  talk.  After 
the  headman  had  left  the  house,  I  questioned  Ali. 
While  waiting  for  me,  Ali  had  drawn  the  headman 
out  on  the  subject.  It  seemed  that  the  natives  of 
the  headman's  kampong  were  reluctant  to  go  out 
hunting  the  rhinoceros  because  they  had  seen  the 
tracks,  not  only  of  the  beast  they  were  after,  but 
also  of  beasts  they  wanted  to  avoid — a  pair  of 
seladangs. 

I  could  understand,  then,  why  they  were  not 
anxious  to  go  out  rhinoceros  hunting,  armed  with 
nothing  but  their  knives  and  muzzle-loading  guns ; 
for  the  seladang  is,  to  my  mind,  the  most  dangerous 
animal  on  earth.  It  is  the  largest  and  fiercest  of  all 
wild  cattle;  its  sense  of  smell  and  its  vision  are 
keen,  and  it  charges  with  terrific  speed.  Except 
for  one  baby  seladang  that  died  before  it  reached 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  197 

a  menagerie,  not  one  has  ever  been  captured  alive. 
A  number  have  been  killed  and  mounted  and  are 
to  be  found  in  museums. 

In  meeting  seladangs  a  hunter  needs  all  his  skill 
and  courage.  They  charge  without  an  instant's 
warning,  breaking  through  the  jungle  at  incredible 
speed.  Unlike  most  animals,  they  do  not  try  to 
protect  themselves  by  defensive  methods,  holding 
the  charge  until  they  are  cornered;  they  are  in- 
stantly on  the  defensive.  The  hunter  becomes  just 
as  much  hunted  as  his  quarry;  each  tries  to  attack 
by  surprise.  It  is  vitally  important  in  running 
down  seladangs  for  the  hunter  to  keep  his  feet  clear 
of  vines  and  creepers,  so  that  he  can  be  free  to  jump ; 
and  also  to  keep  his  eye  on  a  tree,  which  will  pro- 
vide refuge  in  case  he  needs  it.  The  only  possible 
way  for  a  hunter  to  escape  the  direct  charge  of  a 
seladang  is  to  fall  flat  and  let  it  run  over  him ;  its 
neck  is  so  short  that,  when  he  is  prostrate,  it  can- 
not reach  him  with  its  horns.  Then,  if  the  hoofs 
have  not  knocked  him  unconscious  or  broken  his 
bones,  he  can  jump  up,  before  the  seladang  can 
check  itself,  and  run  for  a  tree.  For  the  man  once 
caught  on  the  beast's  horns,  there  is  no  escape;  it 
tosses  a  victim  time  after  time  and  then  tramples 
him. 

I  had  never  met  a  seladang — and  I  must  admit 
that  I  was  not  especially  anxious  to  meet  one — but 
I  had  no  doubt  of  my  ability  to  handle  it  if  the  emer- 
gency arose,  and  so  I  determined  to  go  to  Rawang 


198  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

for  the  rhinoceros.  I  had  confidence  in  my  express 
rifle  and  I  knew  that  the  natives  would  not  refuse 
to  accompany  me.  It  would  be  useless  to  force 
them,  of  course,  for  they  would  be  constantly  on 
the  verge  of  a  panic.  I  sent  Ali  to  talk  with  the 
headman  and  bring  him  to  my  house. 

That  afternoon  a  large  part  of  the  village  across 
the  river  from  my  house  burned  to  the  ground. 
While  I  was  sitting  on  my  veranda,  waiting  for 
Ali  to  return  with  the  headman,  I  saw  smoke  aris- 
ing from  one  of  the  houses  in  the  Chinese  section. 
A  moment  later,  flames  appeared,  the  alarm  was 
given  and  the  village  was  in  an  uproar.  The  flames 
leaped  from  house  to  house,  running  down  the 
principal  street,  where  all  the  godowns  were  located. 
I  went  across  the  river  to  watch  the  excitement 
and  see  what  I  could  do  to  help.  The  natives  were 
wild:  rushing  about,  falling  over  one  another  and 
going  crazy.  I  stood  at  one  side,  quite  out  of  the 
way,  for  a  native  in  such  a  condition  is  a  dangerous 
person;  the  least  word  may  send  him  amok  and 
start  him  slashing  with  his  kris.  Not  one  native 
thought  about  the  safety  of  his  women  and  children. 
On  the  contrary,  he  pushed  women  and  children 
out  of  the  way  and  walked  on  them  in  the  excite- 
ment of  rescuing  the  one  possession  that  a  Malay 
values — his  kris.  Men  dashed  into  burning  houses 
and  emerged  triumphantly,  scorched  but  waving 
their  krises  over  their  heads. 

One  of  the  tunkus  managed  to  organize  in  the 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  199 

midst  of  the  turmoil,  what  passed  as  a  water-chain. 
The  natives  grabbed  buckets  and  ran  to  the  river, 
returning  at  full  speed,  waving  their  buckets  and 
getting  in  one  another's  way.  I  doubt  if  a  single 
bucket  reached  the  fire  with  more  than  a  cupful 
of  water  in  it.  It  was  so  funny  that  I  had  to  hide 
where  no  one  could  see  me  laughing.  I  heard  later 
that  the  old  Sultan  laughed  until  he  was  weak. 

He  feared  only  that  the  wind  might  change  and 
bring  the  fire  on  his  palace ;  and  he  sent  Mahommed 
Yusuf  to  find  me  and  ask  my  advice.  Yusuf  and 
I  decided  that,  if  the  wind  showed  any  signs  of 
changing,  it  would  be  best  to  tear  down  some  of  the 
village,  to  make  a  protecting  strip.  I  went  back 
across  the  river  to  my  house  for  dynamite  to  aid 
in  the  work  of  demolition.  However,  the  wind  did 
not  change,  and,  in  exactly  a  hundred  minutes  after 
I  saw  the  first  smoke,  the  fire  had  run  its  course. 

In  that  time,  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  houses 
had  burned  to  the  ground,  but  no  lives  had  been 
lost.  And  so  it  was  not  a  serious  calamity,  since 
house-building  in  that  section  of  the  country  is  a 
simple  matter.  The  Malays  thought  it  a  great  joke 
that  the  stores  that  were  destroyed  belonged  to 
the  Chinese;  for  the  Chinese  were  always  cheating 
them.  By  the  time  evening  came,  it  was  as  if 
the  fire  had  been  arranged  to  give  the  population 
an  exciting  and  amusing  holiday. 

That  night,  Ali,  after  indulging  in  some  elo- 
quence on  the  subject  of  my  express  rifle,  brought 


200  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

the  headman  to  me.  Until  late,  we  three  sat  on  the 
veranda  of  my  house,  talking  about  the  rhinoceros 
hunt  and  the  chances  of  encountering  a  seladang. 
At  last  the  headman  said  that  he  would  think  about 
the  matter  and  give  me  his  answer  the  next  day. 

I  spent  the  morning  with  the  Sultan,  who  was 
still  laughing  about  the  water-chain  at  the  fire,  and 
I  returned  to  my  house  early  in  the  afternoon.  The 
headman  and  AH  were  waiting  for  me.  It  was 
decided  without  further  delay  that  we  should  go 
to  Rawang  to  capture  the  rhinoceros. 

The  natives  at  the  headman's  kampong  were  not 
over-anxious  to  take  part  in  the  hunt,  and  we  spent 
several  days  there,  waiting  for  them  to  make  up 
their  minds.  It  was  useless  to  urge  them,  and  to 
force  them,  as  I  had  the  power  to  do,  would  have 
been  out  of  the  question.  It  was  a  matter  of  wait- 
ing and  working  up  their 'enthusiasm.  Ali  talked 
with  them,  cleaning  my  rifle  and  telling  them  about 
the  "magic"  I  had  performed.  Then,  after  they 
showed  signs  of  being  properly  impressed,  I  took 
my  gun  and  began  shooting  explosive  bullets  into 
the  trunks  of  trees.  They  stood  about,  wide-eyed, 
watching  the  bullets  tear  great  holes  in  the  trees. 
One  evening,  two  days  after  our  arrival  at  the 
kampong,  the  headman  cam^  with  the  word  that 
his  men  had  decided  that  they  would  like  to  go 
rhinoceros-hunting  with  me.  "But  I  can  take  only 
ten,"  I  replied.  "I  want  you  to  come  and  I  will  let 
you  select  nine  others — your  best  men."  Now  that 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  201 

the  desire  to  go  rhinoceros-hunting  was  alive  in 
the  village,  I  knew  that  the  selection  of  nine  men 
would  make  rivalry  keen,  and  that  those  who  were 
selected  would  be  proud  to  go. 

Shortly  after  dawn  the  next  morning  we  left  the 
kampong  and  struck  out  toward  the  spot  where 
the  rhinoceros  had  been  located.  We  kept  up  a 
good  pace  during  the  day,  following  the  trails 
through  the  jungle  and  cutting  our  path.  Three 
days  later  we  came  upon  signs  of  the  rhinoceros 
and  began  tracking  the  spoor. 

At  sundown,  as  we  were  approaching  an  open- 
ing where  we  intended  to  make  camp,  we  heard  a 
crash  in  the  jungle.  "Seladangs !"  screamed  the 
Malays. 

The  men  dropped  everything  and  jumped  for 
the  trees  just  as  two  seladangs  came  charging 
down  upon  us.  Ali,  who  was  carrying  my  rifle 
and  who  had  become  separated  from  me  when  the 
men  rushed  for  the  trees,  started  toward  me. 
Gauging  the  distance,  I  saw  that  he  could  not 
make  it  and  I  yelled  to  him  to  save  himself.  I 
jumped  backward  and  made  for  a  tree;  then,  as  I 
pulled  myself  up,  I  saw  the  bull  seladang  catch  Ali 
on  his  horns  and  toss  him.  I  dropped  to  the  ground 
again,  horrified;  I  wanted  to  get  my  rifle  and  I 
forgot  about  the  other  animal. 

The  cow  seladang  charged,  and  I  barely  had 
time  to  get  behind  the  tree.  Unconsciously  I  had 
drawn  my  parang,  and,  as  the  great  chocolate- 


202  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

colored  beast  plunged  past  me,  I  slashed.  The  blade 
hamstrung  her,  and  she  plunged,  bellowing,  into 
the  jungle.  Then  the  bull,  instead  of  catching  Air  s 
body  on  his  horns,  allowed  it  to  fall  to  the  ground 
and  turned  toward  me.  I  swung  up  into  the 
branches  of  the  tree,  just  out  of  his  reach,  and 
slashed  downward  as  he  charged.  I  failed  to  hit 
him  and  I  narrowly  escaped  falling. 

We  could  hear  the  cow  bellowing  furiously  and 
dragging  herself  away  through  the  jungle.  She 
did  not  return.  The  bull  charged  back  again  and 
stood  beneath  me,  pawing  the  ground  and  bel- 
lowing. Then  he  turned  and  attacked  Ali's  body, 
trampling  upon  it,  time  after  time,  until  every  bone 
was  broken. 

Each  time  the  bull  returned  to  the  tree,  I  fired 
downward  at  him  with  my  revolver,  but  I  might 
just  as  well  have  used  a  pop-gun — the  little  bullets 
had  no  effect.  One  dynamite  cartridge  would  have 
ended  him,  but  my  rifle  lay  on  the  ground  five 
yards  away.  Night  came  on,  but  the  seladang  did 
not  leave.  I  remained  poised  throughout  the  night, 
waiting  for  a  chance  to  jump  down  and  run  for 
the  rifle.  Our  thirst  became  terrible,  and  there  was 
little  consolation  in  the  thought  that  the  seladang 
was  probably  quite  as  thirsty  as  we  were.  But 
there  was  some  chance  that  he  would  leave  us  for 
a  few  moments  to  find  water,  and  I  needed  only  a 
moment  to  get  the  rifle  and  climb  back  into  my 
tree. 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  203 

Ants  and  mosquitoes  swarmed  over  us.  Trying 
to  find  some  protection  against  them,  we  wrapped 
our  hands  and  faces  in  sarongs.  But  we  were  as 
helpless  against  insects  as  against  seladangs. 

Morning  came  and  wore  away  to  noon,  and  still 
the  beast  stayed  by  his  post.  Then  the  fever  began 
to  hit  me  and  my  head  throbbed.  I  propped  my- 
self up  against  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  saving  all 
my  strength  until  the  moment  when  I  should  need 
it  most. 

Ali's  body  was  unrecognizable;  he  had  been 
gored  repeatedly  in  the  tossing  and  now  he  was 
simply  a  mass  of  torn,  trampled  flesh.  The  beast 
returned  to  it  again  and  again  to  sniff  and  paw, 
and  the  sight  made  me  weak  and  ill. 

The  ten  natives  were  scattered  through  the  trees 
near  me  and  we  talked  back  and  forth.  They,  of 
course,  depended  upon  me  and  my  "magic"  to  save 
them,  and  I,  with  the  fever  burning  more  fiercely 
every  minute,  realized  that  something  must  be  done 
immediately.  My  thirst  was  becoming  unendur- 
able and  my  strength  was  leaving  me  rapidly.  I 
called  to  the  men  to  join  me  in  my  tree,  and  they 
swung  from  limb  to  limb  until  we  were  together. 
The  seladang  took  up  his  position  beneath  us, 
bellowing  and  pawing. 

I  counted  the  arms  in  the  party;  we  had,  besides 
our  parangs,  four  spears  and  three  krises.  With 
the  parangs  we  cut  stout  branches:  then  we  tore 
our  sarongs  into  strips  and  bound  the  krises  to 


204  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

the  poles.  As  was  usual  in  the  Archipelago,  espe- 
cially in  the  inland  districts,  the  spears  and  krises 
were  poisoned,  and  our  only  hope  of  victory  lay 
in  that  fact.  I  knew  that  the  poison  would  kill  a 
man  in  a  few  minutes  and  I  had  seen  smaller  ani- 
mals die  of  it,  but  I  did  not  know  what  effect  it 
would  have  on  so  large  and  powerful  a  brute  as  a 
seladang. 

Next  we  gathered  leaves  and  stuffed  a  sack,  made 
from  a  sarong,  full  of  them,  and  tied  it  with  a  string, 
so  that  we  could  dangle  it  in  front  of  the  beast. 
Then  three  of  us  armed  with  the  krises  took  posi- 
tions so  that  we  should  be  above  the  seladang  when 
he  charged,  and  we  lowered  the  sack.  He  snorted 
and  drew  back;  then  he  put  his  strength  into  his 
legs  and  lunged  forward.  I  drove  downward  with 
my  kris,  tearing  a  wound  in  his  back  near  the  hump; 
he  whirled  and  charged  again,  and  this  time  one 
of  the  natives  blinded  him  in  one  eye. 

He  withdrew  a  few  yards,  snorting,  bellowing 
and  pawing.  He  turned  again  on  the  body  of  poor 
Ali,  as  if  to  vent  his  anger  on  it.  Presently  we 
lured  him  back  with  the  bundle  of  leaves,  and  he 
charged  again.  I  scored  another  cut  near  his  hump. 

This  charging  and  jabbing  went  on  for  fully  an 
hour,  and  we  seemed  no  nearer  success  than  when 
we  started.  It  was  impossible  to  get  in  a  death- 
stroke,  and  the  poison  apparently  was  having  no 
effect  upon  him.  In  any  event,  I  thought,  we  were 
winding  him,  and,  if  we  could  last  out  another 


• 

>   _,     .  .      A  -  1     *      *t  ft/ 

•^--i  .     v*>Vi       ^^j3f,->. 


sm    ^1 


fe"?        •  :»>5 


AiL. 


i.v 

'V' ;.  {1<«^!^W*a»'iJ»liraSc.i!w«-  <VY' 


"Then  three  of  us  armed  with  krises  took  positions  so  that  we 
should  be  above  the  seladang  when  he  charged,  and  we  lowered 
the  sack.  He  snorted  and  drew  back." 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  205 

night,  he  would  have  to  seek  water.  But  there  was 
another  danger — one  of  the  natives,  crazed  by 
thirst  and  excitement,  might  run  amok  there  in 
the  tree.  I  planned,  if  we  were  forced  to  remain 
in  the  tree  through  the  night,  to  take  charge,  dip- 
lomatically, of  the  krises  and  spears.  I  regretted 
having  spent  all  the  ammunition  for  my  revolver 
on  that  useless  fusillade  the  day  before. 

The  game  resolved  itself  into  an  attempt  to  pierce 
the  seladang's  sound  eye;  we  lured  him  back,  time 
after  time,  but  could  not  drive  a  kris  to  the  mark. 
Evening  was  approaching,  and  I  thought  the  battle 
was  over  for  the  day.  The  seladang  stood  near 
by,  ignoring,  for  the  moment,  the  sack  we  were 
dangling.  Blood  was  flowing  from  a  dozen  wounds. 
When  he  took  a  step  forward,  we  cried  out  in  sur- 
prise. He  was  weakening!  He  almost  tottered 
away,  as  if  he  had  forgotten  about  us. 

Even  though  he  had  routed  us  completely,  treed 
us  and  kept  us  treed  and  killed  my  good  friend 
and  assistant,  AH,  I  felt  sorry  for  the  beast,  as  I 
sat  there  watching  him.  He  had  put  up  a  mag- 
nificent fight,  and,  half  dead,  he  would  muster  his 
remaining  strength  and  charge  us  again  if  we 
dared  set  foot  on  the  ground.  It  was  his  victory 
until  the  moment  he  died. 

His  head  drooped  lower;  then  he  went  down 
on  his  fore  knees,  bellowing  weakly.  Presently  his 
hind  quarters  slumped  down,  and  blood  began  to 
flow  from  his  mouth. 


206  TRAPPING  WILD  ANIMALS 

I  dropped  from  the  tree  and  walked  forward 
cautiously  to  the  spot  where  my  rifle  had  fallen; 
then,  armed,  I  stood  watching  him  in  the  throes 
of  death.  None  of  the  Malays  had  followed  me, 
and,  when  I  told  them  to  come  down,  they  refused. 
Finally,  to  convince  them  that  there  was  no  danger, 
I  put  a  50110  explosive  bullet  behind  the  beast's 
shoulder. 

We  dug  a  grave  for  Ali  and  buried  him;  then 
we  gathered  our  material  and  started  back  for 
the  kampong.  My  fever  was  so  bad  that  the  medi- 
cine in  my  kit  did  me  little  good;  for  hours  at  a 
time,  I  was  unconscious  and  had  to  be  carried.  At 
the  kampong,  I  rested  for  several  days,  gathering 
strength  to  make  the  trip  to  the  coast. 

When  I  went  to  see  the  Sultan  at  Trengganu, 
before  taking  the  boat  to  Singapore,  he  regarded 
me  severely  and  said:  "Tuan,  why  have  I  given 
you  big  concessions  in  land?  Is  it  because  I  want 
you  to  go  out  and  kill  yourself  in  capturing  ani- 
mals?" He  seemed  satisfied  when  I  told  him  that 
my  days  as  an  animal  capturer  were  over,  and  that, 
after  a  trip  home,  I  should  return  to  Trengganu, 
to  make  my  fortune  in  more  peaceful  ways. 

At  Singapore,  I  saw  my  doctor,  who  looked  me 
over  and  told  me  that  any  more  escapades  in  the 
jungle  would  be  the  last  of  me.  He  ordered  me  to 
leave  the  country  at  once  and  I  took  passage  on  a 
steamer  sailing  the  next  week. 

Then  I  hurried  off  to  Palembang,  where  I  had 


UP  A  TREE  IN  THE  JUNGLE  207 

spent  my  first  months  among  the  Malays.  It  was 
All's  home,  and  I  was  in  duty  bound  to  take  his 
kris  back  for  him.  The  old  hadji  received  me  af- 
fectionately and  heard  the  story  of  his  nephew's 
death. 

"He  died  bravely,  tuan?"  he  asked. 

"Yes,  and  in  the  faith." 

The  hadji  nodded;  that  was  what  he  wanted  to 
know — whether  or  not  AH  died  a  good  Mahom- 
medan. 

"On  what  day  did  he  die,  tuan?" 

I  could  not  remember  what  day  it  was,  but  I 
knew  what  the  old  man  hoped  and  I  answered, 
"Friday." 

That  meant  that  AH  was  certain  of  Paradise. 

I  said  good-by  to  the  hadji  and  went  back  to 
Singapore  to  catch  my  boat.  The  fever  was  still 
racking  my  body,  but,  when  I  saw  the  Red  Sea 
behind  us  once  more,  I  knew  that  luck  had  been 
with  me. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


'^- 


